I’ve been rather fascinated with the idea of automation lately, of how artificial intelligence and robots will soon become more and more prevalent in our lives.

In Pittsburgh, self-driving cars began accepting passengers Wednesday. Ford said it will develop a completely autonomous vehicle by 2021.

It’s an exciting prospect. A 2015 AAA study found that on average, Americans drive almost 30 miles each day, about 45 minutes every day. Imagine having all that time to dedicate to something else.

Think of all the people killed or injured in auto crashes because of distracted or impaired drivers. Imagine if drunken driving was no longer a scourge of our society.

Self-driven cars would be – will be – a tremendous advancement.

Artificial intelligence is making inroads elsewhere, too. Earlier this year, Cleveland-based law firm BakerHostetler “hired” an IBM robot called “Ross” as a legal researcher in its bankruptcy department. People ask it questions, and it looks up and quotes the relevant case law.

It’s a job that used to be filled by young people fresh out of law school.

There’s where I start to wonder: Where do we cross the line between robots making our jobs easier and robots taking our jobs away?

Will self-driven trucks put most or all of the 3.5 million truck drivers in America out of work?

Will artificial intelligence make it even harder for young people to find their way in career paths, not just in blue-collar fields, but in white-collar areas such as the law – or the news, where robots already are writing thousands of stories every year for services including the Associated Press?

I’d like to think that artificial intelligence could just make life easier. Dreams such as better working conditions, a 30-hour work week, and an end to scarcity of goods and professional services could become reality.

That’s the dream of the future.

It’s a more comforting vision than one where corporate America seizes upon robots to render huge swaths of society obsolete and unnecessary, or uses artificial intelligence as a means of cowing people into working for low wages and meager benefits because, if they don’t, say hello to your new robot replacement.

As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, we will have to maintain a place in society for people. Casting them off as no longer necessary will only further divide our society.

I’d really like to have a car that drives itself, maybe even a fully functioning robot personal assistant.

But what’s the point of having a car that drives itself if you’ve got nowhere to go?

• Eric Olson, a former resident of Cary and Northwest Herald sports and business editor, is editor of the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb. Reach him at 815-756-4841, ext. 2257, email eolson@shawmedia.com, or follow him on Twitter

@DC_Editor.