Automation is bad for the economy. Think of the tens of millions of phone operators put out of work by rotary pulse dialling exchanges. Where are they now? Those 100 or 200 million phones worldwide won't connect themselves!
This won't last forever though. Once true strong AI is created we will be able to automate everything. It might not happen for centuries but eventually we will be forced to rethink the way society functions.
Perhaps people will pay a premium for a "human made" sticker on the side?
Saying true strong AI is like saying once teleportation is available, we can live anywhere in the world! Or that if we use nuclear fission for our power production, it will be too cheap to meter. Reality is a bit more sticky, and strong AI is a long ways away.
Humans think they can control everything. We can't. Even if Robots were to automate everything, what happens when a tsunami hits Japan? Destroys sources of power, robots, the power grid. What do they do then?
We talk about all this "AI" as if it's close to fruition. It is not close to fruition. The "robots" Foxconn is getting aren't autonomous. They're just machines that do what they are told to do.
