A Massive 3D Printer is Literally Constructing a Neighborhood in Texas
A colossal 3D printer is crafting 100 homes in Georgetown, Texas — or more accurately, printing them. Upon completion, this project will become the world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood, according to Reuters.
According to Quartz, it requires far fewer workers. ICON’s senior project manager Conner Jenkins told Reuters, “where there were maybe five different crews coming in to build a wall system, we now have one crew and one robot.” That raises questions about the labor force impacts of the giant printers, should they become widely popular building tools.
Some 4.7% of the U.S. labor force in 2022 held jobs in the construction industry. In Texas, the construction industry accounts for 5.6% of the state’s labor force.
Despite claims that robots will assist humans with their jobs rather than replace them, even AI leaders have contended that rapidly evolving technology will make some jobs obsolete. Some 60% of companies across the globe working in consumer goods production and the oil and gas industries project that robots will replace some of their workers’ jobs, according to a 2023 World Economic Forum study.
