There's an unstated assumption there, which is that you'll have some reason to continue to want your work to be required.

In the (probably unlikely) event that AI use results in a post-scarcity economy in which there's no need to work to survive, a lot of people wouldn't regret sentiments like the ones in question.

On the contrary, it would mean they could work on whatever they please, including potentially standing on the shoulders of giants - the AIs - and seeing even further.

If we actually worked to create a society that work for the benefit of all its members, there would be a lot less reason to worry about developments like these. Much of the worry arises because for various reasons - none of them really good ones - we've ceded control of these developments to the people least suited to manage it.

I think by that point humanity will having some pretty fundamental discussions about the nature of work and money.