Until recently, I wrote aviation software and I can assure you, I would be standing in the terminal with Capt Playstation waving any pilotless commercial aircraft farewell.
There is no such thing as truly artificial intelligence - computers cannot think for themselves. Every action they take has to be programmed into their memory cells.
As for single pilot operation of an airliner - yes, it is possible. But I doubt the various civil aviation authorities will ever permit it. (Think back a few months to the CO flight crossing the Atlantic when the unfortunate captain died).
In the spirit of MOL though, I think all are agreed that, apart from take-off and landing, pilots are virtually redundant due to the current state of automation. So, once in the cruise, the single pilot could go back into the cabin and man a trolley, thus saving the salary of a pilot
and a flight attendant.
