Built by robots?

A very interesting discussion with a group of young construction professionals at the recent - and excellent - "Enhance Your Career In The Built Environment" event with CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building https://www.ciob.org/). We were watching the perambulations of Spot the Dog - the four-legged agile mobile robot from Boston Dynamics (https://bostondynamics.com/products/spot/), and marvelling at its abilities.

The group I was chatting with comprised site management and quantity surveying specialists, and we discussed the general process of building. Seeing Spot, the conversation turned almost naturally to the idea of robot constructors.

This is not a new concept, of course - robots of various kinds have been used in manufacturing and other areas for many, many years. Yet somehow, we see few examples of robots being used to construct buildings, at least commercially. This seems strange.

I am no quantity surveyor or site manager, and my experience of construction is limited to carrying hod-loads of bricks up a rickety ladder (just don't); mixing cement (one mix dry is worth three wet); and replacing broken windows (although I pride myself on being able to putty a window frame with both hands at once ??).

All that said, a building is, usually, a fixed construction, comprised of a large number of fixed points, predetermined and therefore pre-programmable. The actual construction process is both familiar and long-standing, and follows a logical linearity, after access, services and utilities are in place.

Whether it is a high-rise building, a country mansion, or a whole housing estate, the specificity and detail is all pre-set. So, why don't we see robots building our commercial or residential estates?

Clearly, there could be a myriad reasons why 'It can't be done'. However, this has been said about a lot of stuff that then happened. The coming together of robotic technology, remote control, predetermined (and standardised?) plans, and the burgeoning of artificial intelligence isn't even new, let alone unheard of.

Robots, including mobile ones, can work precisely and efficiently - we see this in "manufacturing, assembly, packing and packaging, mining, transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research, safety, and the mass production of consumer and industrial goods" (according to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot).

Reducing injuries to people; working in hazardous areas or with affective materials; producing real-time active feedback on construction progress, with the attendant analytics; even the insurance implications of predictable big-project activities - all of these could be achieved.

This seems to me an interesting concept, that is no-doubt already much-discussed. So, as a lay person with an interest in the construction industry, I would really appreciate the views of construction professionals to say why 'It can't be done', or 'We're already developing it', or 'It's been done for ages, so be quiet' ??.

At a time when there is a housing shortage, and construction costs are hammered by raw materials prices, a predictable (and therefore more cost-effective and insurable) process might be something construction leadership is working towards.

Can anyone enlighten me..?