AI tools for AEC · 4 tools
General AI assistants for AEC firms
Short answer
What are general AI assistants tools for?
Most AEC firms start their AI journey here. A general assistant knows nothing about your project unless you tell it, but it is good with language: turning notes into reports, summarising long documents and explaining technical points in plain words.
For everyday work the leading assistants are now close in quality. The practical differences are where they fit (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365), how they handle long documents, and what each plan does with your data.
General AI assistants: the tools in our directory
OpenAI · Freemium
ChatGPT
General-purpose AI assistant for drafting, summarising, analysing files and generating images.
Best for: Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Developers
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Anthropic · Freemium
Claude
General-purpose AI assistant for long documents, drafting, file analysis and coding, with projects for each job.
Best for: Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Developers
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Google · Freemium
Gemini
Google's AI assistant for drafting, research, file analysis and images, built into Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Drive.
Best for: Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Developers
Read the listing →Microsoft · Paid
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft's AI assistant inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, working on your firm's Microsoft 365 data.
Best for: Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Developers
Read the listing →
Listed alphabetically. Listings are independent: CloudBrain is not paid by vendors and uses no affiliate links.
How do you choose and use one well?
Pick by ecosystem
If your firm runs on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, the assistant built into it saves copying files back and forth.
Use a business plan for project data
Individual plans may use your chats for training unless you turn it off. Check what each vendor says about its business plans.
Write prompts with limits
Tell it what not to invent, and ask for [CHECK] wherever a fact is needed.
Standardise on one
One approved assistant, with shared prompts and a review checklist, is easier to govern than five.
Watch out for
- Confident but wrong answers, including invented code clauses
- It can't open DWG or Revit files: export PDFs or images
- Client personal data on personal accounts
General AI assistants: common questions
Which general AI assistant is best for an architecture firm?
- There is no single best. ChatGPT is a broad all-rounder, Claude handles long documents well, Gemini works inside Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 Copilot inside Microsoft 365. Trial the one that matches your firm's software for a month on real tasks.
Is it safe to use these assistants with project data?
- Only within your firm's AI usage policy, on a plan whose data terms you have checked. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft say their business plans don't train on your data by default; personal plans may unless you opt out. Leave out client personal data.
Talk through your AI plans with an architect
Book a strategy call. We'll look at where AI can save your team time, what it will take, and what to leave alone.