It seems like you're stuck on the automaton aspect. Would not remote control robots decrease the number of firefighters necessary? If each building came equippe

It seems like you're stuck on the automaton aspect. Would not remote control robots decrease the number of firefighters necessary? If each building came equipped with remotely operated firefighting drones, response time would improve by orders of magnitude. The same for car accident incidents: would a precisely controlled remote robot not be able to more aptly apply the jaws of life, especially in situations dangerous for a first responder? Of course there are a bevy of situations where first responders are still absolutely necessary. But other things also work in tandem to improve the outcome: like civilian operated defibrillators. One could also interpret the 17% as "17% more effective, through automation, per person employed." This would, as a ratio of field employed to population, look less like jobs lost and more like additional jobs unnecessary.