Though only SLF, a strong opinion follows (oh right, I'm also an attorney, so . . .)
We're communicating over the internet's pathways which undeniably have advanced rapidly in a comparatively short period of time. With great benefits.
And great problems along the pathways traveled. Criminals exploit the internet; there's a bit of smut here and there; hostilities and even outright threats pop up from time to time; and of course, there are vulnerabilities to old technology, decidedly earthside-bound, like electricity generating and distribution networks (not to berate an impersonal internet, but also there are vulnerabilities to the very same information-intensive computer and communication systems and networks which little things like hospitals and other public utilities (e.g., Chicago Center) rely upon all day and all of the night). Why this is relevant is....
Because the same logic which tells us that software and cockpit automation takes the errant human off of the controls of the civil aviation aircraft overlooks, or even ignores, the existence of potential for unwanted trouble being caused by the human programmers and coders. Humans are said to be failure-prone (which is kind of, undeniable). Why then is it assumed that the coding and algorithms and so forth will be: Pristine! Perfect! No Back Doors, Trap Doors or Stuck Exit Doors, Not Ever!!
Besides, I am still waiting for one of the "automation" gurus, or even mavens, to demonstrably prove that, just to take a probably fairly mundane or even simple example, that a set of algorithms can be written today, in 3 years, or anything not "futuristic" with regard to timeframe, which could fully account for safe operational necessities of the Delta flight over LA which dumped fuel and caused at least a publicity uproar when some of the fuel visited a schoolyard. I have said, demonstrably prove, because, I would want to see what courtroom types know as demonstrative evidence. Show me the algorithm, show me it works in a full-fidelity simulator in which positively zero of the operational variables have been, you know, slightly rounded off to make the coders' jobs look classier.
No one should or can deny automation is increasing. But the inconsistency between scoring the humans wearing three- and four-stripes on the one hand, but lofting (or is it lifting) coders into rarified air of perfect performance, just seems too much. Oh by the way, Happy Labor Day (computers, this is NOT for you).