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Intelligence Amplified™

A Professional Framework for AI-Assisted Engineering in the Public Interest

By: Enrique Lairet, PE
Founder, Oasis Engineering LLC | www.oasisengineering.com
Date: May 2025

Preface: Championing the Empowered Client

The landscape of residential and small commercial projects is undergoing a remarkable transformation. We observe a surge in empowered homeowners, builders, and developers—the passionate DIY innovators—who are eager to take a more active and informed role in bringing their visions to life. This white paper is a testament to Oasis Engineering’s commitment to supporting this inspiring movement.

We believe technology, including AI, should serve to amplify human ingenuity, not replace it. Intelligence Amplified™ is our client-first framework, meticulously designed to integrate the preparatory work of clients using modern tools with the indispensable expertise and rigorous review of professional engineering. Our goal is to make high-quality engineering more accessible, transparent, and collaborative, especially for those who are hands-on with their projects.

Executive Summary

Driven by the rise of the DIY spirit and the increasing accessibility of artificial intelligence tools, clients and professionals are seeking new avenues for efficient, affordable, and transparent collaboration in engineering. At Oasis Engineering, we’ve developed Intelligence Amplified™ (IA) — a rigorous, ethics-centered framework. This model integrates AI-assisted client submissions with redundant, independent professional engineering review, particularly tailored for residential and small commercial projects.

This white paper outlines the operational, ethical, and legal backbone of our IA-as-a-Service™ model. It combines client-generated insights and AI-drafted inputs with multi-layered engineer verification and internal AI models trained on synthetic test data for quality assurance. We champion clear professional boundaries and robust liability protections. While we embrace innovation, our duty as licensed engineers to ensure public safety remains paramount. This document serves as both a thought leadership position and a defensible record of our process for regulatory bodies, legal scrutiny, and our industry peers.

1. The Catalyst: Empowering DIY with Engineering Insight

A new era of project engagement is dawning, especially within the residential and small commercial sectors. Empowered individuals—homeowners, small builders, and innovative developers—are increasingly taking the helm, utilizing accessible digital tools to shape their projects from inception. They are leveraging diverse resources, including AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude, to:

  • Explore permit requirements and zoning ordinances
  • Draft initial Requests for Information (RFIs)
  • Interpret local building codes and standards
  • Propose preliminary structural or system solutions

This proactive, hands-on approach is not just a fleeting trend; it’s a growing movement we actively support. The critical question is no longer if this will become standard practice—it already has. The real challenge, and our central focus, is how to seamlessly and responsibly integrate these client-driven explorations with the rigorous, non-negotiable standards of professional engineering. Our Intelligence Amplified™ Protocol is designed to meet this challenge head-on, ensuring safety, compliance, and quality.

2. Intelligence Amplified™: Our Collaborative Framework

Intelligence Amplified™ is fundamentally a collaborative review protocol, not an automation engine. It’s a structured approach that enhances the capabilities of both the client and the engineer.

Our framework empowers clients, especially those embracing the DIY approach, to contribute:

  • Their detailed project description, vision, and specific objectives.
  • Preliminary solutions or concepts, potentially explored using public code references or AI tools.
  • All relevant data, sketches, photographs, site plans, and supporting documentation.

Oasis Engineering then performs its core professional duties:

  • We independently verify all information and assumptions.
  • We cross-check any AI-assisted interpretations against fundamental engineering principles and current codes.
  • We issue certified engineering documentation based solely on our independent professional judgment and analysis.

Crucially, Oasis Engineering does not certify AI-generated outputs. We certify our professional engineering conclusions, derived from meticulous independent analysis and verification.

3. The IA-as-a-Service™ Workflow: Precision in Practice

Our IA-as-a-Service™ model translates the Intelligence Amplified™ philosophy into a clear, actionable workflow, fostering a transparent and efficient partnership:

Client Responsibilities:

  • Provide a detailed problem statement, project scope, or specific request.
  • Optionally share any AI prompts or tools used (e.g., GPT-4, Claude outputs), along with the source material.
  • Include all essential supporting documentation: photos, site plans, material specifications, soil reports, etc.
  • Clarify their own reasoning, design intent, or interpretation where applicable, fostering a richer understanding.

Oasis Engineering Responsibilities:

  • Perform independent engineering calculations, often employing two to three distinct layers of analysis per project for robust verification.
  • Utilize proprietary in-house AI tools, trained on curated synthetic datasets, for comparative model verification and quality assurance.
  • Implement stringent guardrails to prevent over-reliance on AI-generated logic and to identify potential “hallucinations” or inaccuracies.
  • Thoroughly review all client-provided materials for legitimacy, traceability, data integrity, and completeness.

Multi-Layered Verification – Our Commitment to Safety:

  1. Manual engineering review of all inputs, assumptions, and client-provided data.
  2. Independent calculations and code-based cross-checks performed by our engineers.
  3. Internal AI-assisted Quality Assurance (QA) using Oasis-trained models, fed with vetted synthetic data to test against various scenarios.
  4. Final professional oversight and certifying decision by a licensed Professional Engineer (PE).

No document is ever sealed or issued without successfully completing this comprehensive protocol.

5. Proactive Risk Mitigation

We proactively identify and address potential risks associated with integrating AI-assisted client inputs. Our strategies are designed to ensure project integrity and safety:

Risk: AI Hallucination or Factual Error
Mitigation Strategy: Rigorous independent engineering calculations, comprehensive document vetting, and cross-verification of all critical data points by our professional team.
Risk: Client Misrepresentation or Incomplete Data
Mitigation Strategy: Mandatory submission of comprehensive, traceable supporting documentation. No project is certified without verified data integrity.
Risk: Over-Reliance on AI by any party
Mitigation Strategy: Strict internal QA protocols, including the use of guardrails and our synthetic-data trained AI models for comparative analysis, ensuring human expertise remains central.
Risk: Legal or Ethical Challenges
Mitigation Strategy: Adherence to this transparent framework, consistent use of clear disclaimers, and maintenance of a detailed multi-layer review audit trail for every project.
Risk: Conflict with Permitting Agencies or Code Interpretations
Mitigation Strategy: The licensed Professional Engineer (PE) at Oasis Engineering remains the final, responsible authority on all sealed documents and code interpretations, ensuring full compliance.

6. The Standard: Why Rigorous Documentation is Non-Negotiable

The integrity of any engineering project rests on the quality and verifiability of its foundational data. In our Intelligence Amplified™ framework, rigorous documentation is not just a requirement; it’s the bedrock of responsible practice.

We do not accept AI-generated logic or conclusions at face value. Clients are required to substantiate any proposed solutions or AI-assisted findings with:

  • Project-specific, verifiable data.
  • Relevant building code citations and standards.
  • Clear photos, detailed reports, or accurate site visuals.
  • Contextual notes explaining assumptions made during their preparatory work.

If an AI tool suggests “this beam is sufficient”—we demand to see the underlying data, the assumed loads, the code references, and the reasoning. This scrutiny is the essence of engineering. It’s our commitment to professional responsibility.

7. Shared Value: Advancing the Industry Together

Our Intelligence Amplified™ approach isn’t about reducing rigor or cutting corners; it’s about elevating the baseline of client understanding and project preparedness, while steadfastly maintaining the highest standards of engineering quality and public safety.

This collaborative model yields significant benefits across the board:

  • Permitting Agencies and Code Officials benefit from clearer, more comprehensive, and more accurate initial submittals, potentially streamlining review processes.
  • Clients, especially DIY enthusiasts and small developers, benefit from potentially lower upfront design costs, enhanced project understanding, and a more engaged role in their projects.
  • Engineers benefit from cleaner, better-organized inputs, allowing them to focus their expertise on critical analysis, verification, and high-impact design solutions rather than extensive preliminary data organization.

This fosters a more efficient, educated, and collaborative ecosystem for all stakeholders.

8. Conclusion: Engineering the Future, Responsibly

Intelligence Amplified™ is not a push towards automation, but a commitment to thoughtful augmentation, rigorous validation, and unwavering professional responsibility. It’s about enhancing human expertise with the smart application of technology.

We are actively building a future where:

  • Clients, empowered by accessible tools and a DIY spirit, can better understand and organize their project needs, leading to more informed initial concepts.
  • AI assists in preliminary information gathering and drafting, always guided and critically reviewed by the client before submission.
  • Licensed engineering professionals provide the crucial independent verification, ensuring safety, compliance, and legality through their expert judgment.
  • The client–engineer relationship is evolving into a true collaboration, where clients become active participants rather than passive requestors. This shift reduces costs, accelerates delivery, and broadens access to professional support—contributing meaningfully to housing affordability and more equitable building outcomes.

We believe this balanced approach is the only ethical and sustainable way to build effectively, at scale, in the evolving AI era, particularly for the residential and small commercial projects we specialize in. We invite our peers, regulatory officials, and clients to hold us to this standard of excellence and transparency.

Next Steps: Connect

Ready to discuss how Oasis Engineering and the Intelligence Amplified™ framework can support your next residential or small commercial project? We’re here to help empower your vision with professional engineering certainty.

Contact Oasis Engineering Today

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