What kind of world have we created where we fear being liberated from the need to work?
The kind of world we have created is one where one must create value in order to have food & shelter. Automation simply funnels more and more of the value created into the pockets of fewer and fewer individuals.
To me, this comes when we make automated machines whose purpose is to provide for human survival, and we make those machines open source. Groups of people purchase the machines, and through ownership they receive the benefits of automation rather than an elite ownership class.
I've written several essays on the topic on my website, and have a discussion board where people can discuss the ideas in more detail.
You may enjoy reading The Machine: http://tlalexander.com/machine/
Or The Corporation: http://tlalexander.com/corporation/
The transition will be tumultuous though, as most transitions are.
Today work is tied to our identity in many countries. "What do you do?" is a question asking about career. If you don't work, you must be lazy.
The solution isn't more jobs to make more things to keep us in the production cycle. Things should last longer. Cellphones should last six years, not two. When Intel posts a loss, it should be taken as a sign they produced chips so well that replacements aren't necessary.
This gets into a much much bigger problem of money, value, debt, consumerism and planned obsolescence. Ultimately if humanity is to survive another 10,000 years, we're going to need some pretty big paradigm shifts.
the market decides your worth, and unless you have something to offer, you get nothing in return.
which means work is going to be critical.
A major benefit of automation is predictability, much higher throughput, and quality - cost savings is icing on the cake.