A cute little robot trundles up to the construction site, carrying the next set of bricks. On goes a thick layer of mortar that looks kind of like icing. Slowly but surely, the wall rises a little higher.
This is the new brick laying robot from a startup called Monumental. Based in Amsterdam, Monumental could change the construction industry in a big way.
From a new report in Fortune:
Monumental’s robots use AI technology pioneered for self-driving cars and a new generation of inexpensive robotic parts to create robots that can work on almost any new building site and at a cost that is comparable to human bricklayers.
Like the Netherlands, the United States is facing a huge shortage of construction workers. 89% of US construction firms are struggling to hire, according to Workyard Research.
Believe it or not, Monumental doesn’t undercut humans on price. Construction companies are happy to pay up — human workers are hard to find!
Robots taking jobs humans don’t want is a trend we’re seeing more and more. Whether it’s burger flipping or latte foaming, machines are doing it because you can’t find a human who will.
In America, parents want their kids to go to college. They don’t want them laying brick, and they certainly don’t want them flipping burgers.
Those are honorable professions that add something great to society. But for most people, they’re not aspirational.
People in other countries would love to come here and do those jobs. But all too often, we won’t let them.
So what does that leave? It’s robots or nothing.
I don’t see this as a problem. We’ve been getting rid of jobs since the steam engine and there’s more jobs now than there ever were.
Automating construction could also help reduce housing costs.
Today, the bricklaying robot runs about as fast as a skilled human. What if in the future, it ran 10 times as fast?
And what if we also had robots to dig the foundation, rig up plumbing, and the like? We could build houses at a cost so low we can barely imagine it.
A major component of today’s high cost of living goes “poof”.
Progress is good, and Monumental is progress. Maybe someday, they’ll build my house!
What do you think of Monumental’s robot? Leave a comment and let us know!
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