The Expert Podcast

Okay, if you're in the construction industry, there are two stories you really need to know about. First of all, if you think AI (artificial intelligence) robots are only for White Collar jobs and tech jobs, you need to be aware of this: there’s actually new compact construction equipment that is using AI. Look at this! This is a compact machine from Bobcat called the Rogue. It's basically like a little skid steer loader that’s a robot. You program it, you tell it what you want it to do, it can recognize grades, and it can recognize obstacles. It basically does the job of an operator. This is coming—robots are coming, according to this article in Compact Equipment magazine, one of the big magazines we all read.

And look, if you just think that as a skilled operator your job is safe, watch out for this.

The other story is about the housing market. People are saying that the housing recession is over—the crash already happened. We've been waiting for this crash, a lot of people, for years now. People said, "Well, it’s a bubble, it’s gonna crash." Guess what? It already crashed. Most people are saying it's over. That little blip we saw at the beginning of 2023, January through March, that was it. Don’t blink—you missed the crash. Real estate may have already gone over the hump, or maybe it hasn't. Nobody has a crystal ball to predict the future, but when you analyze interest rates, housing inventory, and even prices, a lot of experts are saying that was it. Don’t blink—you missed the actual crash of real estate.

You might be saying, “How could that be true? The prices went up!” Well, right now there are multiple offers again on real estate. Housing demand is not being satisfied by supply. Recovery has not fully taken place, but the recession is over. President’s mobile offers are on the rise, and home building is ramping up—that’s the key. New home construction is up. Why is that? Because resale homes are not available.

Of course, artificial intelligence, robots, and automation may be coming. Maybe it makes it easier, maybe it takes jobs, who knows? But you just want to be aware of it so you're not caught flat-footed by these technologies entering your business. You may want to put them into your workflow as a contractor or as a general contractor (GC). Maybe you want to sell against it—if your competitors are using it, you might want to tell your clients, "No, we don’t use any of that garbage; we’re using actual humans to do the work." Or, you might just want to factor that into your capital expenditures, your capital investments. In the future, you may want to buy one of these robots instead of buying a manually operated piece of equipment.

I know you have an opinion about that. I know you do! Put your opinion below so we can all know what you think. This way, the world gets a better sense of what multiple people are talking about, not just one talking head with one opinion. We want to hear it from everybody.