University of Waterloo Applying AI to Update Masonry

Artificial intelligence is being harnessed by voice-controlled personal assistants, chatbot financial services, and even smart thermostats--now the University of Waterloo is applying algorithms to improve an age-old profession: bricklaying. Researchers at the university used AI software to study how masons position their body during bricklaying, revealing new insights into the safest poses and most productive way to work through machine learning. "The people in skilled trades learn or acquire a kind of physical wisdom that they can't even articulate," said Carl Haas in a statement. Hass is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Waterloo. The study was published in Automation in Construction today and analyzed 21 masons with varying levels of expertise.