In April, I traveled to Munich for Bauma, the construction industry’s largest trade fair.
I would argue too large. One morning, it took me three hours to reach the show because the subway cars on that side of the city were packed to the gills.
I was warned the show was massive, but it was hard to understand its size: 193,750 square feet of hall space and over 4 million square feet of outdoor space, with 3,601 exhibitors from 57 countries. These figures meant nothing until I saw it for myself.
The highlight of Bauma was the innovation that was on display, specifically autonomous and partially autonomous construction equipment. This may sound trite, but this technology will revolutionize the industry.
Similar to the show’s size, I was aware of artifical intelligence’s (AI) influence on the industry before Bauma. But now that I’ve seen it in person, it has sunk in even deeper: AI will make the construction of roads and bridges easier, and, maybe in less than five years, maybe longer, but eventually, humans will lose jobs.
I fear I’m not the only American who needs to see things in person before they understand. For example, in March, Bill Gates said that within a decade humans won’t be needed “for most things.”
It’s difficult to comprehend this becoming reality, but Gates said three jobs will survive the AI revolution: coders, energy experts and biologists.
Is anyone in the construction industry heeding this warning?
At Bauma, I operated a single drum roller at BOMAG’s booth. Owned by the Fayat Group, BOMAG’s roller was 280 miles away at the company’s headquarters in Boppard, Germany. At Caterpillar’s booth, an operator performed his job at Germany’s Lukas Gläser quarry.
When I saw the autonomous technology at Bauma, I thought about what Gates said, and I became scared. Granted, I’m cynical and pessimistic.
An optimistic person might argue that autonomous technology will help the construction industry with labor shortages, while improving safety, cost efficiency, complex decision making, regulatory challenges and fill the gap when there’s a demand for skilled operators.
The cynic would point out that once companies, as well as departments of local, state and federal government, are able to save money by replacing humans with AI, then humans will be out of work, looking for a way to survive.
Gates also said we might experience a two-day work week thanks to AI.
I want to live in a world where there is a focus on leisure. But I don’t trust the billionaire class. They will prosper in their AI utopia, while the rest of us scramble to earn a paycheck.
The engineers, contractors, operators and general workers in the construction industry need to prepare themselves for the shift towards automation.
We need rules, regulation and transparency to protect humans. And we need to stop being so amazed by technology and think about its implications. RB
