I have no evidence to back this up, but as a counter-point, I think that the construction of new things is always a platform upon which more new things can be m

I have no evidence to back this up, but as a counter-point, I think that the construction of new things is always a platform upon which more new things can be made, which require people. If we reach some precipice where much more can be built with much less, the. I think that not only will the diversity (breadth) of software will increase, but also the complexity and power (depth). All of that still requires workers. As software becomes commoditized, it’s ubiquity and availability should provide a new base level on which to build. The only scenarios I can see where we lose opportunity for common growth is if we build machines that are better at innovating and making things for humans than we are or if the power of the tools we build all ends up concentrated into a few powerful hands. The later is why I believe FOSS is so important.