Wall to Wall

I filled in an on-line survey back in 2015 which told me that my current form of employment carried with it a 63% possibility of being done in the future by a robot. 

That prospect arouses in me two distinct emotions, the first being an impending feeling of uselessness and the other a simmering rage against artificial intelligence, machine learning and algorithms which could in the next 50 years see me seriously consider taking up arms in any ensuing struggle. 

My own apparently predestined future led me to think about what sorts of jobs would still, in the same time frame, be predominantly undertaken by humans. 

Take the construction sector and the roles and functions that go with that. 

It is an industry that requires a certain amount of youthful physicality in excavations, fabrication, allied trades and skills and yet looking through the list of jobs in getting, for example, a typical house out of the ground and up to habitable stage there appears to be a high level of vulnerability to a robot takeover. 

To me the most surprising skill to be under such a threat was bricklaying at 82%. 

I have marvelled at the agility and dexterity of a bricklaying gang on a residential building site from the labourers mixing the mortar and handling the bricks to the skilled tradesmen up on the scaffolding laying the uniform courses hour upon hour. 

It appears however that brickies are becoming scarce through natural wastage and as a consequence of economic downturn on a cyclical basis which detracts from what was generally regarded as a job that would always be in demand and a good source of income. 

In Australia these factors have led to one company, Fast Brick, developing and bringing into commission a mechanised brick laying machine. 

Under the iconic name of Hadrian this large but manoeuvrable bit of mobile equipment can construct all of the masonry components of a traditional clay brick house in 15 hours which when compared to a human team’s 15 to 18 days for the same is astounding. 

The company defend their creation as being complimentary to a conventional brick laying gang and that it does not constitute a threat to employment. They have simply identified shortcomings and trends in construction and addressed them with a machine. 

Most technical revolutions are in response to inefficiencies or skill voids and that applies to just about every sector of manufacturing and commercial operation. 

Masons and bricklayers in Australia now have an average age of 47 years and because of the level of physical attrition in the job rarely work beyond 55 years old. 

This is a worry to those responsible for the profitability of companies in the sector and also where there is social pressure to provide housing in sufficient volume and quality to meet an increasing population and their needs. 

Fast Brick have identified the UK economy as an area for their machine to thrive in as there is a persistent shortfall in cost effective housing and in terms of numbers. We, in this country, similar to the Aussies just love bricks and mortar construction for our homes and so there appears to be a perfect fit for Southern Hemisphere ingenuity and entrepreneurial flare.

Just such a machine as Hadrian may be squeezing into a street near you and quite soon.