TheCrimsonKing

I'm a big believer in the concept of never say never, and I think the technology will catch up sooner rather than later, but there's a huge difference between an occupant-less fighter jet carrying no passengers and a pilot-less aircraft carrying 200-300 passengers. If that fighter goes down over the ocean or desert, there's only money at stake. I could see the military flying pilot-less fighters for decades before the technology is implemented with the general public.

That being said, technology moves fast. After the first iPhone was released it didn't take long for us put down our flip phones, cancel our cable and land line subscriptions, and center our whole society around our touch screen devices. They took over the planet in a very short amount of time. Not entirely analogous to automated aircraft, but you guys get my point. Given what's out there currently with AI, I could see the ability for automated flight to catch up very quickly. What I think will stand in the way will be regulatory hurdles and an ATC system that's still running on 1960's technology.

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