Pilotless: This Is Your Robot Speaking

Once we’ve accepted driverless cars, what about pilotless airliners? Is that a bridge too far?

Peter Garrison

Friday, June 27, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

There’s a difference between remotely-piloted aircraft and completely autonomous ones. [Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

The increasing public acceptance of driverless cars suggests a similar trajectory for pilotless airliners, despite initial skepticism regarding autonomous vehicles.
While human pilots are celebrated for "MacGyver-like" crisis management, the article argues that modern AI, utilizing machine learning and neural networks, can be trained through vast simulations to surpass human performance in both routine and emergency situations.
The author contends that AI's superior precision, ability to learn from countless scenarios, and lack of human fallibility or emotional responses could ultimately make pilotless aircraft safer and eventually preferred by passengers.

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I’m not sure what’s gained by putting ride-share drivers out of work, but driverless cars have become a common sight in Los Angeles. I seldom drive any distance without encountering one of Waymo’s white Jaguar SUVs, its roof and fenders barnacled with spinning sensors and its front seats empty.I’ve followed them in traffic for miles—they drive well. I’ve tried to book a ride, but the hilly neighborhood of narrow, winding streets in which I live lies just outside their comfort zone. Give them another six months.

A few years ago, a survey found almost 80 percent of respondents unwilling to ride in a driverless car. I don’t know what the fraction would be today, but I’ll bet it’s shrunk. One of my least adventurous friends reported that after a few minutes of a Waymo ride she felt perfectly comfortable—a triumph of experience over imagination.