Blog Post 1: How Robotics and AI Will Benefit the Construction Industry

Robotics and AI are already being utilized in various industries and are beginning to develop in the construction industry. Many aspects of the industry are going to change dramatically because of construction automation [1]. While some traditional roles will be filled by this automation, safety and efficiency will increase dramatically and new jobs will be created where positions will need to be filled.

Some issues that we currently face are low quality work due to unskilled or unprofessional laborers, safety concerns associated with certain tasks, and deadlines must be met to keep a project on schedule. Construction automation will address each of these issues and more. Robots would be programmed and/or taught how to complete a task and will perfectly execute that task any number of times [2]. They would be able to complete dangerous tasks without the risk of any person being injured or killed on the job. And lastly, construction automation would mean that the job site is active at all hours of the day. Traditionally, three 8-hour shifts would be very costly and overtime would have to be paid on weekends. However, you would only need specific supervisors and technicians to keep an eye on the robots throughout the day which would be cost effective and greatly increase the overall timeline of construction.

3D printing and robots would greatly improve the speed and quality of specific tasks on a job site. Entire structures are already being created out of certain materials and the speed of the printing itself will only increase as time goes on. Also, very repetitive tasks such as masonry work would be more precise and cost-effective [3]. Many of these robots are already being used and developed so that they will be more affordable and more efficient in the future. I believe that these machines will be used on almost every major construction project in the near future.


[1] Robotics Online Marketing Team. "Construction Robots Will Change the Industry Forever." Robotics.org. 17 April 2018. https://www.robotics.org/blog-article.cfm/Construction-Robots-Will-Change-the-Industry-Forever/93

[2] The B1M. “The Construction Robots Are Coming | The B1M.” YouTube. 30 May 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGGHdl3NyQ

[3] Hamakareem, Madeh Izat. "Construction Automation – Applications and Advantages in Construction." The Constructor. 2018. https://theconstructor.org/construction/construction-automation-applications-advantages/16644/

Response 1: Andy Kuriatnikov
I agree that sensors are key to intelligent building operation. I look forward to when buildings will run themselves and will keep occupants safe and comfortable just by using sensors. I like that you mentioned the internet of things because it really is where we are headed. Reducing energy consumption is also an important factor in future building construction.

Response 2: Aaron Goldberg
We mentioned a few of the same things when it comes to AI and future jobs in the construction industry. The industry will benefit a low but some traditional jobs will be phased out. We will need to adapt to the changes or, even better, get ahead of the changes. I like that you mentioned that the quality of work will be better and the cost of the work will be lower.

Response 3: Hailey Ihlow
I like how to mention that we will advance as technology does. You make a good point that we need to think about what the future of technology will look like so that we can understand the pros and cons of them. We are already seeing the pushback against self-driving cars even though the technology is almost there. It will be interesting to use technology that does not need any form of replaceable or rechargeable battery in the future.