Nor can one just enter into the discourse a remark that computers will soon mimic human thought and will, as such, be better than pilots. In aviation, even imagination must have cranes, not sky-hooks, otherwise the argument is merely interesting, but not convincing.
Agreed and that was a good read. But... We can program documented human action, much of which has been incorporated into pilot training as we learn from our mistakes to increase reliability of autonomous flight. With any new tech we will learn from failures, one would have to be a fool not to expect them. Should I crawl the rest of my life or risk the chance of falling when I stand up?