Phone operators have gone the way of the dodo as well. We should embrace these changes with a forward-looking attitude and look at how such systems create brand new roles in society.
I remember reading an online study that listed the jobs most likely to be replaced by automation and "truck driver" was listed at the top.
For the keen eye, automation creates new jobs as it replaces others. Someone has to design, implement, and maintain these systems. There is always a higher level of abstraction where a human being is needed to oversee things.