New Construction Robot Lays Bricks 3 Times as Fast as Human Workers

"In this human-robot team, the robot is responsible for the more rote tasks: picking up bricks, applying mortar, and placing them in their designated location. A human handles the more nuanced activities, like setting up the worksite, laying bricks in tricky areas, such as corners, and handling aesthetic details, like cleaning up excess mortar."

"One human plus one SAM equals the productivity of having four or more masons on the job."

A downside I can see is there isn't really any room for apprentices or entry level workers in this model. I imagine with four human masons a couple of them could be learning the trade as they did "the robot's part," eventually developing the skills to be the "human" in the team.

Is bricklaying a big industry? Watching all these new buildings going up around me, it doesn't seem like modern construction uses bricks. I mostly see it in nicer sidewalks, which a robot could do the bulk of.