First, as humans, we should not really be doing many jobs that the machines do well (cleanly, cheaply and reliably). That is not always how the world works. Technology adoption lags and there is a big gray area in the definition of "well" or "well enough" that means humans get to do a lot of machine-ready jobs for a while. But "knowledge workers" especially should not expect to be doing "machine ready" jobs forever and be paid a lot of money for it.
But done right, "programming yourself out of a job" is a significant job advantage, not a disaster that the article paints it to be. Many managers highly appreciate smart engineers who can do a good job on heir assignments (if yours does not, find another one even if your job is not machine-ready). And delivering a reliable, automated solution for your own task is one of the strongest indicators that you are one of those engineers.
One way to do it is, once your solution is ready, to have a one-on-one with your manager and tell him that you can build a fully automated solution in, say, two months while keeping your current load. Would he be interested? If so, what would be his plan for you after you complete your task? You are interested in X / career path to Y / etc. Use free time to start ramping up on new role. One benefit of this "soft transition" is to have a fallback if you feel the new project is not the right fit / not welcoming you. You can always go back and say that automation is not ready yet and ask for a new project / another couple of months. My 2c.
But done right, "programming yourself out of a job" is a significant job advantage, not a disaster that the article paints it to be. Many managers highly appreciate smart engineers who can do a good job on heir assignments (if yours does not, find another one even if your job is not machine-ready). And delivering a reliable, automated solution for your own task is one of the strongest indicators that you are one of those engineers.
One way to do it is, once your solution is ready, to have a one-on-one with your manager and tell him that you can build a fully automated solution in, say, two months while keeping your current load. Would he be interested? If so, what would be his plan for you after you complete your task? You are interested in X / career path to Y / etc. Use free time to start ramping up on new role. One benefit of this "soft transition" is to have a fallback if you feel the new project is not the right fit / not welcoming you. You can always go back and say that automation is not ready yet and ask for a new project / another couple of months. My 2c.