Construction often makes people think of large buildings, rubble and heavy machinery that more often than not makes a huge amount of noise. It can sometimes be seen as a basic industry with simple processes that are repeated across every project.
This is not the case and it is now changing rapidly as technology becomes more prominent and advanced to the point that it can have significant impacts on the speed and quality of construction projects. Automation and artificial intelligence will have positive impacts on the industry and those within it are eager to take advantage.
Here are a few ways that automation will change the construction industry.
Construction workers are, of course, human and are therefore impacted by stress, tiredness and other personal and environmental factors. These factors can influence their accuracy and quality of construction meaning that improved projects require more men and time which increases costs.
These costs are passed on to consumers making it a battle for the cheapest builds with the best quality that can often be impossible to achieve. With automation through artificial intelligence, more elements are able to be built by machines ensuring accuracy and quality is of the highest quality and consistent.
Machines are also able to complete projects faster as they do not have to take breaks and automation allows them to work faster in general which ultimately reduces costs.
Large-scale buildings are particularly dangerous to not only work on but to also check for the strength and reliability of a particular part of any given project. In many cases, inspection engineers are unable to complete a thorough check on the safety of a building due to the difficulty in reaching the high levels.
Technology provides a solution to this. Machines are able to reach great heights without the worry of safety issues as it is no longer a person’s life in danger and there are no risks of slipping or falling. A great example of this is drones which are able to conduct a complete survey of the sight and through advanced camera inspect every element of the project.
The increase in use of automation and artificial intelligence is likely to leave many jobs redundant. As a result, the type of skillset required in the construction industry is going to change with an emphasis on engineering and computer skills as opposed to the physical construction skills that many currently possess.
Whilst many will lose their jobs, there is plenty of opportunity to upskill and gain an understanding in artificial intelligence and these emerging technologies that are being used in the industry.
