If you pay attention to the headlines, you’ll have likely noticed an uptick in news reports claiming that robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are poised to take away many of the jobs we know today. Indeed, some supermarkets and restaurants are already experimenting with robots that can deliver orders, and as reported in a previous article, most HVACR manufacturers are investing heavily in AI.
While it is almost certain that robots and AI will play a larger role in our everyday lives in the coming years, I don’t think there will be as many job losses as some claim – particularly in the HVACR industry. Mainly because mechanical contractors (and plumbers, electricians, etc.) work in a wide variety of environments on all kinds of equipment and regularly encounter problems that are unique to the application. These are not conditions under which robots excel. Robots usually do well with repetitive tasks in predictable environments, such as manufacturing, data processing, and food preparation.