[a3n]

The horse population was huge in the 19th century, and then drastically fell when they were replaced with cars, trucks and trains for transportation and machines for labor. We didn't need biological horse labor anymore, and they became luxury items.

The same thing could happen to humans. I'm sure the 1% or the 53% wouldn't miss the irritating 99% or the 47% once we're no longer needed to maintain their lifestyles.

"Look Daddy, that family has a human gardener! Can we get one? Please?"

[jlcx]

Well, you're right about human labor being a luxury in a world of increasing automation. It seems like people are willing to pay for that, though. Until something really crazy happens, like mind uploading becoming a reality, automation will result in more people being employed for luxury purposes. Many of these will be low-wage jobs, but that won't be so bad if technological progress continues to make things more affordable. But human labor as a luxury does not necessarily mean low-wage work. For example, mechanical watches have essentially been toys for rich people for the past few decades, yet they continue to be produced in significant numbers, and the higher-end watches generally have a significant amount of human labor involved.