Technology — Friend or Foe?
Technology is widely lauded as the panacea to all of humanity’s ills; an electronic-age solution that will ease the burden upon working men and women. But does it — as many fear — threaten the livelihood of millions of demolition and construction workers across the globe?
When I attended my first Las Vegas construction equipment show — I think it was 1987 but the years have not been kind to my memory — my job was very different to the job I do today, even though my actual role has barely changed.
The day before Con/Agg (the show that would later become CONEXPO-CON/AGG) opened its doors, I was there, film camera, reporter’s notebook and biro in hand.
My mission was clear — To see as much of the show as humanly possible; gather photos of anything that looked even remotely new; and then head to the press office to write about what I had just seen.
The two or three rolls of film that I had shot were handed to a courier desk in the press office for immediate despatch back to the UK. At the same time, I was sat at one of dozens of manual typewriters, filing my copy. That copy was then faxed back to the offices of Contract Journal where it would be re-typed by a secretary.
A day or two later, I would call the office and attempt to marry the copy to the photos which had by now been processed by the company’s in-house darkroom.
That copy would then be passed to a sub-editor who was charged with checking my spelling and grammar and for adding a suitably catchy headline.
The edited copy and the photos were then passed to a layout artists who would turn my words and photos into something that looked like a page or three of a magazine. This would then be replicated by an external typesetting company who would make the whole thing ready for the printer.
If all went according to plan, that issue of Contract Journal would land on reader’s desks the following week while I was still shaking off the jet lag. Or explaining to my editor while I was still in Las Vegas days after the show had closed.
Now I tell you all of this not to highlight the fact that I have been doing this job a long time or to point out the endless inefficiencies of the old days of print journalism.
I mention it all to highlight how things have changed in just three decades.
When I was at the CONEXPO-Con/Agg show in March 2020, my primary role was precisely the same. But this time I was able to broadcast it all live using nothing more than a smart phone. There were no typewriters and no fax machines — Just an Internet connection that allowed me to take my readers, viewers and subscribers around the show with me. The quality of that content was better, faster and more engaging.
In the span of a single career, I had seen my entire industry change beyond all recognition.
While the ability to be able to broadcast to a global audience using just a hand-held device still boggles my mind, I am increasingly aware of what that transition actually meant for a whole plethora of working men and women.
My switch to digital content delivery means that there was no need for a courier to transport my film back to the UK. There was no need for a secretary to re-type my hastily arranged words and no need for an in-house dark room to process my film. There was no need for a sub-editor, layout artist or typesetter. And no need for a printer either.
So while I realise that none of these companies or individuals were dedicated solely on bringing my words to the industry masses, my switch from paper to digital and from words to video will have impacted upon the livelihood of literally dozens of individuals. For many — the typesetters and dark rooms — that impact would prove to be terminal; their roles driven into extinction by the unstoppable march of progress and technology.
So, aside from the fact that I was reporting on demolition and construction equipment, what has all of this got to do with the demolition and construction industries?
Well, by some strange quirk of fate, the answer lies precisely where this story started. In Las Vegas.
As I mentioned earlier, I was back in Vegas for the CONEXPO show in March 2020. Despite creeping fears over COVID-19 that would eventually close the show a day early, the exhibition was a huge success. And I was struck by the sheer volume of technology on display.
Oh sure, there was still heaps of heavy iron to keep us anoraks and enthusiasts interested. But virtually every major manufacturer worth its salt was backing that equipment with technology of some description.
There were telemetry systems by the cartload; GPS and machine guidance systems; drone surveys; ground penetrating radar, remote controls and autonomous equipment as far as the eye could see.
And while all those developments cover a multitude of use cases and applications, they all point in one direction — work sites upon which men and women become increasingly rare; and work sites upon which some roles might simply cease to exist.
Like the removal of the typesetter role in the print industry of old, why would we still need individuals to mark out construction sites when this can be done digitally? Why employ someone to check and monitor accuracy when machines are generating accuracy reports in real-time?
Many equipment operators fear this might just be the thin end of the wedge.
On the latest generation of Caterpillar dozers, for example, operators are required only to choose the machine’s ground speed; everything else can be controlled by the machine’s electronic brain.
Alternatively, those machines can be controlled remotely from dedicated control stations. It is just a short leap from remote to autonomous control. Indeed, Caterpillar trucks have already hauled more than three billion tonnes of material in total autonomy without a single accident or incident.
Not only does such technology threaten future employment for demolition and construction workers right across the industry spectrum, it could also impact upon the industry’s ability to attract young people into roles that could be obsolete long before they reach retirement age.
Yet, as we have seen in the automotive sector, the transition from man to machine is far from straightforward.
There is a landmark case going through the US courts literally as we speak that is seeking to decide who was to blame when a Tesla car on autopilot crashed into an oncoming car and killed two people. And while the isolated nature of demolition and construction work might negate most concerns over pedestrian safety, such incidents will surely be cited by those opposing technological transition.
According to some reports, the continued adoption of automation threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people worldwide and across all industry sectors. And if you think I am overstating the possible impact of automation, think back to your last visit to the supermarket. Was it a living breathing human that scanned your items; or was it a faceless machine?
And where does all that leave humanity? Obviously, there will be concerns over how the technologically displaced might earn a living in the age of technology. But our concerns should run far deeper than that.
And to understand why, I am going to quote the great philosopher Frankie Goes to Hollywood who said this in their 1986 song Lunar Bay:
“In the coming age of automation, where people eventually might work ten or twenty hours a week, man — for the first time — will be forced to confront himself with the true spiritual problems of living.”
Remarkably profound from a band famous (or infamous) for the song Relax. But there is more than a shred of truth in those lyrics.
I do not necessarily subscribe to the notion that work sets you free; but work has, for centuries provided both a source of income AND — importantly — some structure to our everyday lives.
While the thought of breaking the shackles of employment sounds appealing, what would our lives actually look like without the structure of work?
We have already taken our first steps on the road to a technology-driven and automated future. It is almost certainly too late to turn back now.
But it is a road that is potentially lined with twists, turns, hazards and pitfalls. And we should all proceed with extreme caution.
Mark Anthony is the founder of DemolitionNews.com.
