Will We Really Need Humans To Fix The Robots?

In every conversation of the coming apocalypse of AI and robotics taking human jobs is a discussion of how the rise of intelligent machines will create a vast class of new and better human jobs taking care of those robots. This optimistic line of reasoning suggests that as AI and robotics displace lower-paying manual and rote labor, they will create an entirely new class of jobs for those that design, install and maintain these complex systems. Yet, what happens if these new generations of machines are able to design, install and repair themselves without human intervention? Would there be no future for human employment? Central to our automation-driven future is the idea that for each set of rote human jobs taken over by a robot, an alternative human job will be created that involves greater creativity or thought and thus a higher salary. An assembly line full of human welders replaced by robotic welders will require one or more humans to design those robots, install and customize them and eventually maintain and repair them.