Can AI Chatbots Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Structural Exams?

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Aria

This forum paper investigates whether AI chatbots, exemplified by ChatGPT-4 and Google Bard, can pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) structural exams. A set of civil and environmental engineering questions and scenarios aligned with typical FE and PE exam formats is used to evaluate chatbot outputs. Responses are assessed for relevance, accuracy, and clarity, then compared with National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) recommendations. Results show ChatGPT-4 and Bard achieve 70.9% and 39.2% on FE, and 46.2% and 41% on PE, suggesting potential for future editions and use as teaching assistants.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Evaluation of chatbot performance on FE/PE exams

Question set aligned with FE and PE formats

Scoring criteria: relevance, accuracy, clarity

Comparison with NCEES recommendations

Background: what chatbots are

ChatGPT-4 definition and capabilities

Bard definition and capabilities

Exam definitions: FE and PE

FE exam purpose and format

PE exam purpose and licensing role

Can AI Chatbots Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Structural Exams? M.Z. Naser 1,2, Brandon Ross 1, Jennier Ogle 1, Venkatesh Kodur3, Rami Hawileh4, Jamal Abdalla4, Huu-Tai Thai5 1School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Earth Sciences, Clemson University, USA 2Artificial Intelligence Research Institute for Science and Engineering (AIRISE), Clemson University, USA 3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, USA. 4Department of Civil Engineering, American University of Sharjah, UAE. 5Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia. [E-mail:](E-mail: mznaser@clemson.edu)[ ](E-mail: mznaser@clemson.edu)[mznaser@clemson.edu](E-mail: mznaser@clemson.edu), [Website:](Website: www.mznaser.com)[ ](Website: www.mznaser.com)[www.mznaser.com](Website: www.mznaser.com) The engineering community has recently witnessed the emergence of chatbot technology with the release of OpenAI ChatGPT-4 and Google Bard. While these chatbots have been reported to perform well and even pass various standardized tests, including medical and law exams, this forum paper explores whether these chatbots can also pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exams. A diverse range of civil and environmental engineering questions and scenarios are used to evaluate the chatbots' performance, as commonly present in the FE and PE exams. The chatbots' responses were analyzed based on their relevance, accuracy, and clarity and then compared against the recommendations of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) . Our report shows that ChatGPT-4 and Bard, respectively scored 70.9% and 39.2% in the FE exam and 46.2% and 41% in the PE exam. It is evident that the current version of ChatGPT-4 could potentially pass the FE exam. While future editions are much more likely to pass both exams, this study also highlights the potential of using chatbots as teaching assistants and guiding engineers. What is a chatbot? A Chatbot is a computer program that is designed to be capable of simulating conversation with humans (Adamopoulou and Moussiades 2020) . ChatGPT-4 and Bard were created and recently released by OpenAI (2023) and Google (2023) . When asked to define what a chatbot is, ChatGPT- 4 and Bard answered: A chatbot is an artificial intelligence (AI) software program designed to simulate human-like conversations with users, usually through text or voice interactions. Chatbots can understand and process natural language inputs, such as text messages or spoken words, and generate appropriate responses based on their underlying algorithms and knowledge base. They are typically used to provide customer support, answer frequently asked questions, assist with various tasks, or offer personalized recommendations. Chatbots can be built using different natural language processing (NLP) techniques and machine learning algorithms, which allow them to understand and interpret the user's intent and context. Over time, chatbots can learn and improve their responses by analyzing user interactions and incorporating new knowledge into their systems. They are commonly integrated into messaging platforms, mobile applications, websites, and virtual assistants, providing users with a convenient and efficient way to access information and services. And according to Bard, A chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation. It can be used to answer questions, provide information, or even complete tasks. Chatbots are often used in customer service, where they can answer questions about products or services without the need for a human representative. They can also be used in marketing, where they can generate leads or provide information about products or services. Chatbots are typically programmed using a natural language processing (NLP) system. This

FAQs

Which chatbots are evaluated in the paper for FE and PE structural exams?

The study evaluates ChatGPT-4 and Google Bard using civil and environmental engineering questions and scenarios representative of FE and PE exams.

How are the chatbot responses assessed in this study?

Responses are analyzed based on relevance, accuracy, and clarity, and then compared against recommendations from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).

What results does the paper report for performance on the FE and PE exams?

ChatGPT-4 scores 70.9% and Bard scores 39.2% on the FE exam; for the PE exam, ChatGPT-4 scores 46.2% and Bard scores 41.0%. The paper concludes the current version of ChatGPT-4 could potentially pass the FE exam.

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Aria