Where are you from? I thought fuel stations in most Western countries were fully automated already. In Sweden there are loads with no people at all but even the ones with a store you just pay at the pump. You only go inside if you need to buy something else.
Very strange example to use and kind of invalidates your whole point.
[0] https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/74549/why-cant-you-pump-...
No need to get out of your car and deal with a dirty pump. You can also get out to go in the store while they fill your tank, or some smaller places you can buy stuff right from the attendant. Gas doesn't cost any extra because of it either. We used to have some of the cheapest gas in the country before a recent tax hike. Basically a free service, no tipping either.
One downside is that if it is busy you might have to wait, but the guys are usually pretty quick.
The cost can come from the margin for the gas station, not the consumer
A neural network trained to classify spray-painting kids?
Obviously that's not an absolute statement, especially considering that armed robbery is a thing. But in general humans are better crime deterrents than security cameras or robots.
In a lot of cases, that's the sole reason for employing security guards, since the only thing they're actually allowed to do when they encounter crimes in progress is ring the police.
It seems to me that the question to be answered is: how can we afford to not have full employment?
Full employment means lots of good things: a population that's richer per-capita and spends more, less expenses on welfare, less poverty, less crime, less billionaires, etc.