this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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Within my lifetime we will see a significant chunk of building site labour be replaced by robots.
Let's not forget this isn't unprecedented - plenty of jobs went away with we introduced the last big technological innovation, heavy machinery, to the building site. Suddenly one guy in a JCB can do the work of 20 guys with spades, etc.
I'm not talking about replacing everyone, not within my lifetime, that's likely silly unless there's a technological leap we can't yet predict.
But the simpler the labour, the more likely it'll go, and not every site job is specialised enough that it can't be replaced by a well trained, well developed AI system in the year 2050 built into a similarly well developed body -which exist today, are already dropping in price due to refinements and ramping up production, and by then will be as competitively priced as the cost of a human.
This is a good thing though, capitalist politics aside. The more jobs we can replace, especially hard on the body, unhealthy, often very dangerous jobs like construction, the better. Assuming we can evolve society away from our capitalist overlords and into a society that works for the people.
Anyhoo, I wouldn't rush to retrain in another sector just yet if you're a brickie, but if you're just getting in to the biz, keep your options open for sure.
If you're a lorry driver and you're young? Spend some of your spare time retraining for a new career now, because while lorry drivers will still be needed in 30 years time before you're set to retire, the vast majority of the work will be automated, and driver jobs will be extremely scarce compared to the large number of workers trying to get them.
Like the coal miners of yesteryear, you don't want to wait until it's far too late to retrain and then complain that your career is ruined. Prepare now.
Best case scenario? Your main job never goes away, but now your skill set is diversified and you've always got options. Worst case? Your main job does, and you luckily can fall back on your alternative options.
They would love to replace the Working Class with an unpaid AI.
The irony being when they replace people with AI, they will live alone, on a doomed planet where there's not even enough of humanity left to avoid extinction.
There they will sit, upon a throne of skulls, in an autonomous world that will outlive them, and only to serve a species that no-longer exists.
As a construction worker, I disagree. Construction sites are so cluttered, so tough to navigate, and there are so many unknown variables. I really think cars driving themselves will happen before construction workers are replaced. And personally I feel we are a long ways away before cars are driving themselves to begin with.