Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, or AIST, has developed a humanoid robot that can carry out simple construction tasks, like installing drywall.
This development makes true a couple of predictions that have been years in the making. According to a 2013 Oxford University study that quantifies the likelihood of job automation, it actually places the extremely specific job of ‘Drywall Installer’ at a 79 percent chance of being replaced by robots.
First spotted by TechCrunch, the robot works about as fast as a teen doing Habitat for Humanity, but still, it gets the job done.
The research institute is aiming for autonomous replacement of labor at assembly sites for large structures, such as buildings, houses, aircrafts, and ships.
The second prediction is one that’s been right in front of our faces all along: all of these stock photos of robot contractors installing drywall, which exist for some reason. Life really does imitate art.
ENJOY.