Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association – Executive Director’s Report

By Simeon I. Roberts, B.Sc. (Hons), MA (reprinted with permission)
Simeon is the Executive Director of the ANSLS

The Times They Are a– Changin’

When I was an undergraduate student I studied Geography at Middlesex University in London, England. I shared a flat with four others and Joe became my best friend. He was a busker often being sighted in London underground stations singing Bob Dylan songs to earn of few pounds to help out with his tuition and living expenses. He would practice over and over again in our flat and although Bob Dylan was not my favourite I soon became a fan. I remember one song in particular – These Times They Are a-Changin’ (1964). The lyrics start with:

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

I fondly recall the Geographical Techniques course at Middlesex when at our first class we undertook a plane table surveying project on campus. Later during a field camp we surveyed potential sites for a proposed nuclear power station in the south of England and presented our results to a mock public inquiry. Oh, how the times have changed…

“Surveying is a classical profession that goes back at least 500 years, and perhaps as many as 3,000…..and many of our classical instruments – levels and theodolites – can be traced back to the Middle Ages” (Rudolf Staiger, The Surveyor 4.0, GIM International, March 30, 2023).

Staiger in his article summarized the following: in the so-called archaic phase (upto 1590), not much is known about the early surveying instruments but during 1590-1924 in the optical phase technical developments produced many instruments with opto-mechanical components. Some might recall the WILD T2, T3 & T4 and the KERN DKM3. The electro-optical phase followed and lasted until 1989 and “was characterized by the arrival of electronic distance measurement, electronic or digital calculators, and digital storage of geodetic measurements and data”. Since 1990 we have been in the multi-sensor phase with the rollout of the first digital level, the first usable GPS receivers and the first one-man total station.

I wonder how many surveyors are familiar with (or are already using) any of the following: low cost GNSS sensors, cloud storage and computing, quantum computing, edge computing, robotics, augmented reality, hyperspectral imaging, smart cities and digital twins, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), blockchain, enhanced digital rights management, internet of things, unmanned aerial vehicles, data fusion, data cubes, high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS), interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), and artificial intelligence (AI).

I recall reading an Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association (ALSA) guest article in the ALS News on Artificial Intelligence. It began “As the world continues to rapidly advance with technology, it’s no surprise that the profession of land surveying will be greatly impacted by the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the province of Alberta, this impact is already being felt, and it’s essential that land surveyors are aware of the changes and are prepared to integrate AI into their professional practice.”

With the use of advanced algorithms (e.g., automated feature extraction) vast amounts of data can be processed in a fraction of the time it takes traditional surveying methods. As a result, projects can be completed much faster and more accurately, potentially reducing any human error. The author of the guest article posed a question from a previous Professional exam and I noted many of the answers in the previous sentences. What is interesting to note is that the article was fully written by an AI language model. Scary!

There is much current debate concerning the ethical use of AI and there are many stories regarding its misuse. We need to understand that AI is not a replacement for human expertise. AI can certainly process data quickly but we still need to ensure the results are interpreted correctly. What this means is that surveyors will need to be trained in how to use AI and how to analyze its results. Our regulatory bodies will also need to ensure proper testing and entry requirements are established to ensure only qualified professionals are using the technology.

I believe there is no doubt that predictive AI will continue to be an important tool in surveyors’ work and education while also threatening and undermining both. I prefer to see AI as both an opportunity and a challenge. I wonder what we can be doing now to get ahead of this emerging trend?

Many of these new advances are already having an impact on surveying and some raise important questions for regulators (e.g., need for new standards and training). There are two questions that should be considered. Firstly, do these potential changes require changes to our areas of practice? And secondly, what changes are required in terms of specific processes/procedures and standards of practice to respond to these changes?

New technologies are affecting how we do our surveys but most importantly they are impacting the very way we operate our businesses and how we serve the public. Nowadays it is much easier for surveyors to master any instrumentation. Measurements have become fully automatic (think automatic target finding, tracking and laser scanning) and there are many software packages that conduct calculations with ease. Today, its not just a matter of mastering the instrumentation itself but surveyors have to master and manage the whole process (as project managers) – from data acquisition, data processing and analysis right through to the visualization and validation of the final product.

So, why is this relevant today? I believe we are at a critical juncture in the evolution of our profession. Not only is technology advancing at an ever increasing rate (e.g., ChatGBT), we are facing labour shortages, declining membership, increased numbers of retirees and a competitive environment related to the attraction and retention of new candidates. This means the role and definition of a professional land surveyor is also changing. What skills will today’s (and the future) surveyor need? At some point our whole fabric will change and to stay ahead of the curve we will need to be proactive and begin a dialogue with all of our stakeholders to map out a way ahead. This will impact all of our internal processes, our vision of who we are and how we market our products and services, and how we protect the “public interest”. It is certainly a daunting challenge but our new strategic plan is starting to put in place the necessary building blocks. Sometimes we get caught up with focusing on the trees and not seeing the wider forest.