UAV's
Not sure why this has moved to spotters corner, nevertheless, unmanned civilian UAV's are just around the corner however, we won't see any passenger carrying civilian UAV's in any of our life times.
What we will see are UAV's flying search and rescue missions, monitoring traffic jam's, fighting/surveying large fires, and maybe flying small, expensive time sensitive cargo (Newspapers to the outer islands, aircraft parts, etc).
But for all this to happen a UAV must be able to fly like any other aircraft and observe the same air-law as the aircraft currently using the airspace. The largest single factor preventing this at the moment is complexity. A UAV must be able to demonstrate "see & avoid" and communicate with ATC and currently, although the technology is already out there it won't be certified for use in airspace used by other manned craft for some years to come.
But when it does, O'Leary [CEO: Ryanair] will be the first to place an order.