Emerging Risks in Highway Construction Quality Assurance: Data Manipulation Risks from Artificial Intelligence Tools

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the highway construction industry and quality assurance (QA) practices. However, there are limited studies on how AI tools can be misused to falsify and manipulate construction data, particularly in infrastructure projects where safety, quality, and compliance are critical. While foundational to ensuring quality and safety, QA practices are increasingly susceptible to manipulation through AI. Research is needed to provide a comprehensive framework for detecting and mitigating against AI-driven data manipulation in the highway construction industry. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop a framework to mitigate unexplored and emerging risks that are induced by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and related tools in highway construction QA practices. At a minimum, the research shall include: Exploration of the potential misuse of AI tools, such as falsifying and manipulating construction data; Detection of AI-related QA data fabrication and falsification; Mitigation of compromised infrastructure quality.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5859
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Funding: $500,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 10-153

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Li, Zhiye

• Start Date: 20260801
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Artificial intelligence; Data protection; Information processing; Project management; Quality assurance; Risk assessment; Road construction
• Subject Areas: Construction; Data and Information Technology; Highways; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01956605
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 10-153
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 28 2025 2:00PM