unmanned robots pt.2

Katies asked:

How is that (being nervous of putting our lives in the hands of a robot) different from putting our lives in the hands of another human, say, a pilot of a plane or the engineer of a train, or (scarriest to me) the driver of a bus? Wouldn't it make sense that if used in the comercial field, unmanned vehicles would mean fewer human-error accidents?

I think that a licensed pilot or train engineer could definately benefit from advancements in technology, but to consider replacing them with technology seems farfetched. As far as I know, robotics is no where near able to create a free thinking robot, which is the only thing other than a human I would trust flying my airplane. Of course a robot can make less mistakes and be more efficient than a human in some aspects of life, however my life is something I would prefer to put in the hands of someone who has spent years learning how to ensure it's safety.