Hi Slicker,
Yep, I'm real and I've been a pit-face controller since 1981. Read my posts again and I trust you'll see I'm firmly in the camp that says, "Not in our lifetime".
However, TCAS uses computer sensing to let pilots know how to avoid each other; it's only a small step to allow the autopilot to intervene without human input. Take those technologies a bit (OK, a lot) further and apply a few thousand researchers/university students to the task of mining the thinking that goes into a good terminal controller's decision making and then get that same lot to factor in all sorts of variables (WX, emergencies, equipment outages,etc), and you can almost see the future in neon lights.
Sorry, guys, sooner or later, we're only going to have systems engineers or whatever they'll call them then. Don't expect too many live bodies up the front either!
In the meantime, I'll enjoy moving you through my airspace the conventional way, UFN.
