Hi....you are completely on the button......CNC is all about automation but it can also be a method of deskilling the work to employ cheaper labour.

Previously it was capstan and turret lathes where the tools were all preset by a setter and an operator just turned the handles ad finitum............go to cam autos and the operator is completely eliminated...... it has to be that way......production relies on saving the last split second for a million cycles......if you don't save that second, someone else with a better set-up will beat you to the market.

Having been down that path but as a tradesman rather than an operator, and finally finishing the career path as a time and motion study person, I know what saving a second on a cycle means when the production is in the hundreds of thousands.

I'm new to CNC, having only ever worked manual machines all my life, but I wowed at the prospect of programing a machine to work a complex path and make an item that would have been too tedious to do manually.........and if I make a balls up half way through and scrap the part, a touch of the button makes a new part in a few seconds........manually it would take hours.

The real reason many take to CNC is simply because it has a wow factor that is completely missing with manual machines..........pushing a button to make a part is the end result of several hours drawing and converting the plan to CAM and/or hand writing the code.........it can be about making money, but also just for the fun of it.........mostly the fun part is a non profit exercise that soaks up money disguised as a hobby.
Ian.