Have the robots finally arrived to take the jobs?

The replacement of human construction workers by robots is just around the corner, according to the head of one of the UK’s largest developers.

Alison Carnwath, the chair of Land Securities, told the Institute of Directors last week that the industry was on the cusp of a technological revolution brought by advances in technologies such as robotics, unmanned vehicles and additive printing, as well as more general industrial control systems.

“Five years ago, I’d have smiled wryly if somebody had said to me that robots would be able to put up buildings in the City of London,” she said, reported newspaper The Daily Telegraph. “I tell you we’re not that far off, and that has huge implications.”

The benefits of this revolution would not be shared equally, however. She added: “Businesses are focusing on productivity, they want to re-engineer how their people can work, they recognise that technology is upon us and is going to destroy thousands of jobs.”

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