Perpetuity

His grandfather didn't look surprised when Ves made his request. "Any good mech workshop needs a crew of human hands. It's good of you to realize that. Too many manufacturers are seduced by the total control they have over their bots that they don't realize that their perfect arrangement falls apart once it bumps into an obstacle."

"I already know about the whole automation debate, grandfather. I won't follow in the footsteps of the Terrans."

Pretty much everyone in the galaxy knew about the dangers of relying too much on bots. A few hundred years ago, the Greater Terran United Confederation once thought to replace all menial labor with bots, and reached a remarkable degree robotization in their society.

All of this went dandy and fine, until some groups of undisciplined dissidents hacked several widespread models of bots, causing widespread destruction and mayhem. Bots went rogue as they attack the humans they served or caused deliberate fires and explosions.