What you learned in school
Technology and business education classes in the 1970s and 1980s predicted that automation and robotics would eliminate most human jobs by the year 2000. Students learned about a future where robots would handle manufacturing, service work, and even white-collar tasks, leaving humans with abundant leisure time. Textbooks described this as an inevitable technological progression, with some educators suggesting that society would need to restructure around a "post-work" economy supported entirely by robotic labor.
What we know now
Technology and social studies classes predicted that automation and robotics would eliminate most human jobs by the year 2000. Students learned about a future of leisure supported by robot labor. While automation has eliminated some jobs and transformed others, it has also created new types of employment. Humans and robots often work together rather than robots simply replacing humans. Many jobs require human creativity, empathy, and complex problem-solving that robots cannot provide. The transition has been more gradual and selective than the complete replacement scenario predicted.