On reflection, self-driving cars might be a bad example; considering that &quot;truck driver&quot; is the most widely held occupation in America, it&#x27;s logical to infer that a ton of people are going to lose their jobs when automated trucking comes about. What makes me hopeful is that it&#x27;s an example of robotics enriching the standard of life across the board. I can&#x27;t help but feel it&#x27;s inevitable that advances in that area will fuel learning that drives robotic innovation in other areas.<p>Sure, it could lead to America (and the world as a whole) turning into a dismal hellhole of widening economic disparity between the haves and the have-nots. However, given the fact that humans are terrible at predicting so much as the weather in ten days, I can&#x27;t help but retain a sense of optimism just out of lack of a productive alternative in mindset.