Parting Words of Wisdom from 2024-25 ASHRAE President Dennis Knight on AI Use
Knight warns there are no guarantees with content produced by artificial intelligence
When Dennis Knight, P.E., BEMP, Fellow Life Member ASHRAE, took the reins as ASHRAE’s president for the 2024-25 term, he brought with him not just 46 years of experience in building science but also a deep caution about the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence in technical professions. Before Knight completed his term, he shared parting words of wisdom and a note of warning. The new ASHRAE president, Bill McQuade, took office during the 2025 Annual Conference, which was held June 21–25, 2025, in Phoenix, AZ.
In a recent address, Knight acknowledged the growing popularity of AI tools like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Perplexity, but cautioned engineers and industry professionals to approach these platforms with skepticism. “All right, so whatever you’re going to get back from an AI bot at this point, whether it’s a Google tool or OpenAI or ChatGPT or Perplexity, or any of the myriad of tools out there, they’re pulling from the public domain,” Knight said. “There is not an AI tool that we’ve trained specifically on our intellectual content, our intellectual resources. So unless the tool you’re using is very specific about citing sources, where it came from, and what date it was published, there is no guarantee that what you’re getting back is the latest technical guidance that our subject matter experts have published and validated.”
Knight’s concern is rooted in the unique depth of ASHRAE’s technical library, which spans more than 130 years. “Until we move to the point where we’re taking our 130 years of intellectual property, intellectual resources, and we have it under one umbrella inside an ASHRAE server that’s using AI to access the very latest technical content available to the industry, I’d be very cautious of what gets fed back to you from, say, a Google search, or a Perplexity search, or any of the search engines that are out there,” he said.
ASHRAE itself has adopted a strict policy: “ASHRAE prohibits the entry of content from any ASHRAE publication or related ASHRAE intellectual property into generative AI tools,” as outlined in its official guidelines. This means that, for now, AI platforms do not have access to the Society’s deeply vetted and frequently updated body of technical standards and guidance (ASHRAE Journal Podcast).
Knight’s warning comes as the HVAC&R industry faces a crossroads: rapid technological change, the promise of AI-driven efficiency, and the risk of misinformation or outdated advice. His message is clear — until ASHRAE’s own intellectual resources power the next generation of AI, engineers and designers must double-check AI-generated answers against official standards and validated literature.
As he passes the torch to his successor, Knight’s legacy is one of both innovation and vigilance: a reminder that the future of building science relies not just on embracing new tools, but on ensuring they are built atop the strongest possible foundation.
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
