Technology already makes it possible for planes to takeoff and land by themselves. In the future there will just be a pilot and a dog in the cockpit. The dog’s job will be to bite the pilot if he touches anything.
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That was the early concept of the manned spaceflight program. However astronauts protested being nothing more than “spam in a can”. Good thing too, as flights which move outside the expected boundaries, like Apollo 13, require the instant adaptability of humans.
You forgot the pilot’s job is to feed the dog.