"People with low paying jobs doing menial tasks" - This has been going on for eons and will continue. The poverty that exists won't increase because of automation. The roots are completely different. Also, what is a menial task? In a true free market, wages are determined by output. If it is cheaper to automate, then it makes sense. If it's cheaper to outsource, it makes sense. Poverty exists when government forces artificial prices on us. Subsidies of all sorts as well as mandated wages have done nothing but keep people indentured. Automation is the natural reaction to government interference.