What a load of nonsense here. Automation is there to assist the crew, not take it's place. I have flown with engineers, it is not pretty. Yet they believe they can design a system to cover all contingencies from the ground? No freakin' way.
The current fascination with UAVs for combat will run it's course. The reality is, as we are seeing in Afganistan, is that you need someone on site to actually pull the trigger to prevent friendly fire or collateral damage to civillians. The new ROEs by McCrystal have made that clear. Most errant strikes have been missiles fired from Indian Springs, NV(or some other remote site).
CEOs (and engineers) dislike pilots because we dare to question their authority. The CEO we question because we are the first to see when management decisions go wrong. The engineers because we see the flaws that occur in any system and we press for corrections. Everyone would be happier if we pilots we silenced. Thank goodness for the sake of safety that we are still here.