> In the last century, typesetting used to be a big industry. It once required specialized skills and machinery. You could make great money being one. However,

> In the last century, typesetting used to be a big industry. It once required specialized skills and machinery. You could make great money being one. However, in the 1980s, desktop publishing software suddenly enabled anyone with a computer to design and print content. This democratized publishing led to a decline in traditional print jobs and a rise in graphic design and DIY publishing in its stead. A big difference here is that typesetting can be done by individuals as an ongoing task accompanying writing. So, software indeed replaces this profession. On the other hand, we do software engineering all day long. It's a stand-alone profession. A more relatable historical example should be automation in chip industry. With CAD and automation, the chip industry requires a lot fewer engineers, even though chip design and manufacturing are still very challenging. But then, this probably has more to do with limited investment (therefore limited demand for talent) than how much automation in the field.