In my opinion, as we move into the future people will be traveling more. This will create demand. Oil prices are still a deterrent, but Boeing and Airbus are already working on more "efficient airliners". The more accessible that flying becomes to the global population, the better it puts airlines in a position to make a profit, something that they haven't done well, but remember that aviation is still young. Early on in the 60's and 70's oil prices were cheap and flying was still a noble concept, things got more difficult in the 80's and 90's and we'll the event's of the new millennium just about destroyed everything. Now if airlines manage to adapt to this new climate, and demand thus in fact increase, then this becomes a promising thing for pilots.
Like someone previously mentioned, before planes fly themselves, we will need cars, boats, and trains that are self automated, flying will be last since it has the smallest margin for error. In order to do any of that, the infrastructure needed, is huge, complicated, and expensive. Computers crash and make mistakes. We still have ways to go before perfecting that, not only that, I think that as a society we have other things to worry about and wont put all of our resources into "automation" especially since it won't be positively received in the near future.
Besides, there is more of a chance of us making trips to outer space than getting replaced by computers in the near future. I think that for now more fuel efficient planes, that are safer and faster will keep Boeing and Airbus plenty busy. Fifty or sixty years down the road, we'll then that's another story.
A pilot shortage, who knows. But this year all U.S Airlines except for American Airlines posted profits. Hopefully this positive trend continues.