In article ,
says...


I see it a little differently. The contest is not between humans and
computer control a computer can fly an airplane autonomously from point A
to B. That's a ways off, considering the current state of AI.



What AI?? The scenario you've just described is thousands of times simpler
than what happens every time you turn on your computer to check the
aviation ng. Taxiing is the only element in this scenario that is not
already fully automated, and performed better by machines than by people.
We only fly today to keep ourselves in practice, in case we "really" have
to fly "someday".

The question of pilotless aircraft is not a technical question. The
technical part is trivial. The question is when, and especially WHY would
we want to do such a thing? The revenue value of an airline flight makes
the cost of at least one pilot very small. Passengers will not want to fly
in an aircraft that does not have the ability to be taken over "in
extremis" by a human pilot, and insurance companies will never go for a
scenario where there is no hopeless sucker (especially a dead one) to take
the blame when something goes wrong.

G Faris