Mechanization has always obviated mental labor as well. Turning the same screw on an assembly line 100 times as day is vastly less mental labor than building a

Mechanization has always obviated mental labor as well. Turning the same screw on an assembly line 100 times as day is vastly less mental labor than building a car as an artisan. Advances in technology and business processes are often made specifically to allow for less brain labor. There are tens of thousands of people in retail banking who can't calculate an amortization table without a computer. This has only resulted in more jobs in banking not fewer. Certainly automation may replace some jobs entirely, but in most cases it's merely an increase in efficiency.