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ARTICLE · 23 OCTOBER 2019

Use Of Robotics In Property Development Will Lead To New Risks Industry Might Not Be Fully Prepared For

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Although failures of advanced robots might seem the stuff of science fiction, there are various scenarios to consider for those involved in construction, Jonathan Olson-Welsh says...

ChinaTechnology
Jonathan Olson-Welsh
Jonathan Olson-Welsh
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Hardly a day goes by without another headline in the press in China announcing the latest development in "proptech" – from drones to artificial intelligence to robotic building tools. Machines have been around for a long time, but they are rapidly becoming very sophisticated and able to undertake increasingly complex tasks.

When things go right they can save time and money on construction projects and can even drive up build quality. However, a big question that surfaces time and again is what if something goes wrong?

Although the failures of advanced robots might seem the stuff of science fiction, there are various scenarios to consider for those involved in construction projects. For example, when is the operator rather than the robot responsible for an error? If a defect has occurred it will still need to be demonstrated that the robot, rather than any operator using the robot, is at fault – and that may not be easy.

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