Unfortunately there is a very affordable alternative solution: 1. Massive population reduction (war is a very efficient way to achieve this) 2. Birth control,

Unfortunately there is a very affordable alternative solution: 1. Massive population reduction (war is a very efficient way to achieve this) 2. Birth control, to slow down population growth to a stable rate near 0 3. Eugenics, to ensure only people with needed capabilities are born (brave new world) In this scenario, 500,000 people (less ?) in charge of millions of robots and a minority of semi-enslaved humans would freely enjoy control over the world. The perfect mix between Asimov and Huxley. All the agitation about "building a 1984-style world" is, at best, just a step toward this Asimov/Huxley model, and most likely, a deliberate decoy.