Economic Impact of Space Based Resources/Automation

[Rynn]

Does automation eventually become so cheap and common that the entire concept of paying for labor starts to seem ridiculous

I missed this last question in my reply above. I would say yes, other than in edge cases. If we assume generally competent automation (i.e. a machine or set of machines that can replicate any job to an equivalent degree to humans) then for any given service a human won't be able to compete on price. The machine doesn't need to make a profit, it just needs to generate enough revenue to to offset its maintenance cost. A person wanting to use their local fabricator to make a product only needs to pay the cost of the materials, energy, the rental time and some factor for maintenance. Whereas a human paid to do the same needs all that plus the cost of their labour.

There likely would be edge cases and the type and frequency really depends on cultural factors. IRL there's a rising phenomenon of social media "influencers" whose job consists of being popular and getting paid for it. When people watch other people play video games and donate tips to them they're doing it because they find the person entertaining. This might persist in niche groups where the appeal is having a real person's personality. Then again synthetic personalities customised for ones interests might completely replace this too.