Automation will only help if we radically change our government and economic system, otherwise only the elite will benefit while more people are put out of work. Here's a video I've posted here before on that subject:
The idea of full automation makes me want to drink myself to death.
"I would rather be ashes than dust"
"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked."