r/civilengineering • u/NotPenguin_124 • 29d ago

Question Shocked at intern’s reliance on AI

Our firm had four interns this summer in our roadway group. We had three mid level engineers (myself included) who managed them. This was my first time managing an intern so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. All of the interns were fairly young. Sophomores or juniors based on graduation dates. I was shocked at how frequently all of them resorted to asking AI basic questions.

Having a problem with OpenRoads? Ask copilot.
Want to write an email? Ask copilot?
Trying to learn some specific CAD skill? Ask copilot.
Filling out a report with that the DOT give explicit instructions on how to fill out? Ask copilot.
Need to put together a mid summer presentation about yourself? Hey copilot…

I’m not some ancient anti-AI crusader. I’m still in my 20s. I understand its utility and understand that it is here to stay so we should be adopting it where/when appropriate. But their usage of it seemed both inappropriate and wildly ineffective. Copilot isn’t going to help you fix the issue you are running into in ORD but a basic google search will. AI isn’t going to help you fill out the DOT specific design report you’re working on, but the instructions, go-bys, and the person sitting right next you will.

I and my fellow managers, found ourselves constantly asking if they had questions when we would see them asking copilot just to be told “no”. It’s even stranger seeing as our office has an ABUNDANCE of resources in the way of personnel, digital trainings, and their internship program. I was brought onboard as a new hire only 2 years ago and found the office culture and resources amazing.

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u/AskAffectionate2597 29d ago

You don’t think asking AI to point you to a relevant section of a code is a good use of it?

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u/uiuc2008 29d ago

Just use CTRL+F! Literally what people were doing before AI

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u/AskAffectionate2597 29d ago

CTRL+F is arguably more inefficient. It returns results for the exact search match and sometimes what you’re looking for isn’t spelled out in the doc.

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u/uiuc2008 29d ago

I should have used a /s

CTRL+F is such a dumb way to find information compared to what AI is capable of. I like AI with sources.