Forecasts for many job markets in the era of AI are cloudy with a chance of pink slips, but what about for electricians, technicians and builders? Will the trades be resilient to these changes?
While some experts caution a much grimmer tale of AI robotics capable of replacing even manual laborers, many reports contend that hands-on work like the trades and construction will be among the most durable in the face of automation and market disruption.
Some say that people will be the beneficiaries of AI advancements rather than casualties — a stance affirmed by Bob Bartz, an industry veteran with both construction and engineering experience.
“AI can replace a lot of things an engineer might do, but it can’t replace the person placing the cable in the ground, or climbing the pole, or drilling the hole,” Bartz explained to Broadband Nation. "The trades industries, they’re not going to be replaced by AI. Their jobs might become simpler... AI will continue to improve the record and the reporting processes.”
AI tools are already assisting broadband trades like premise technician work — simplifying reporting, mapping Wi-Fi coverage and feeding into customer satisfaction metrics that shape how technician performance is judged.
Jason Moore, co-founder of a company that has worked on tools like these, believes AI will give technicians more time to focus on solving real problems. Instead of AI replacing humans, “what you're going to see is the value of the field technician increase dramatically,” he said.
Bartz similarly sees a “bright future” ahead for the technicians and construction workers who build and maintain internet infrastructure — especially when any future of AI will rely on that infrastructure as much as people do today.
“As far as the actual construction work and what it takes to build a network, that’s going to be people doing what people have to do to get broadband delivered to this country,” he argued.
Brick-by-brick or brick-by-bot?
A report by Hudson Cooper Search outlined predictions for AI’s impact on the construction industry. And while it doesn’t spell out replacement, it does suggest a stark evolution in what the jobs will look like.
In the short term (one to three years), its findings were largely agreeable with Bartz’ and Moore’s outlooks. Automation and augmentation assist will be the central theme — not robot pals digging trenches.
But between 2030 and 2035, that dynamic will start to shift, according to the report. A collaborative element between workers and machines will begin to take shape — one where “robots that lay bricks, tie rebar, or 3D-print concrete” become more affordable. And off-site component manufacturing may be adopted by more of the industry.
Through these years, Hudson Cooper predicts both declining entry-level jobs and increasing new, on-site roles like “Robotics Technician” or “Automation Specialist” that may begin to usher in a new labor ecosystem (see chart).
In 10+ years, the report paints a picture of a very different construction landscape: a slimmer job market for traditional roles, but one where human workers take on evolved duties — overseeing robots, collaborating with AI and performing specialized tasks.
One upside prediction: potentially higher pay could come with the upskilling required. That, paired with the existing labor shortage, suggests the industry’s need for people will prevail — just in new ways.
Through all its predicted changes, the report maintains an end goal that doesn’t “replace the irreplaceable human element” but instead elevates it.
Another study from the Journal of Building Engineering offers additional complexities to the future of robotic field workers. Despite all its promises, issues of sticker shock, a fragmented industry, and the time it takes for key stakeholders to trust the technology plays heavily into its adoption.
Through these barriers, skilled physical laborers will remain in high demand. The demand may be magnified for tradesfolk in broadband because, in the world’s race to lead in AI, new-age technology will all rely on a fiber-heavy diet.
“The use of AI is going to demand more robust networks. So the people that are building those networks, they have a bright future,” said Bartz. “Because the more AI we use, the the bigger the pipes we need, the more power we need, the more water we need. So all these utility providers, water, of power and fiber, they got to expand their networks and their capacities to match the thirst for AI.”
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