Construction is facing a massive need for labor, thanks to years of suppressed supply and other constraints. Simultaneously, architects and engineers are facing less certain growth and uncertainty about job security due to automation—robotic process automation, or RPA, to be precise.
I’m guessing that most of you have heard the term. We’ve all had to wonder if our jobs will be replaced by a program or robot. I can’t tell you the answer to that, and this is not a scare story or tale of impending doom, but some of the work we do will definitely be done by programs, and soon.
It’s easy to see why: human beings are inferior to machines in performing certain tasks. Repetitive tasks, in particular. Plus, there’s the unavoidable humanness: bad moods, hangovers, vacations, illness, distractedness, and you know the rest. Oh, and humans can’t work 24/7.
RPA automates repetitive tasks. Anything repetitive that can be automated will be, and…