In 2010, I got to meet Dr. Ron Arkin, or Georgia Tech, who literally wrote the book for the US Military on Armed, Autonomous Warfare:
http://robotics.gatech.edu/team/faculty/arkinhttp://www.amazon.com/Governing-Lethal- ... nald+arkinBy what I know of AI systems, we will be able, by 2020, to have Combat AIs that are better than people at operating according to our rules of war, and in determining whether an attack is feasible or not (and how to avoid, or minimize, civilian casualties).
Robots/AIs are also not subject to fatigue, anger, hatred, etc. They are less likely to make mistakes based upon these.
In terms of Aircraft, they can also operate in far smaller aircraft, with far higher maneuverability than can a human (able to perform maneuvers that would literally kill a human being).
The ships needed for such weapons are also very different from out current Supercarriers.
Where our current Ford-class (and older Nimitz-class) ships carry about 75 - 90 Aircraft, a CVN carrying drones would be carrying somewhere between 200 and 500 of them, with roughly ⅓ to ½ being expendable (if all are expendable, then a single carrier could carry nearly 800 such aircraft).
Remember, not only are you eliminating the pilot (and the life support system for him, and the cockpit, but also the fuel needed to carry all of those things), but the carrier loses the need to carry quarters, food, and supporting logistical infrastructure for the flight crew, which reduces the crew needed to support maintenance of the aircraft as well.
Combat Air Vehicles also do not need a Carrier to be launched from. They could be carried in racks on other ships, and only fly to a "Recovery Vehicle" (another support vessel) where they landed, and were processed for re-packinging in launch systems.
Given the trend toward automation, we will likely see the crew required for large warships shrink as well, meaning that a Super-Carrier isn't going to need as many crew, thus either reducing its size, or increasing its armaments and capabilities.
Other drone ships could be used to operate in support of the carrier, which could be much cheaper than manned ships, and possibly expendable in situations where protecting the carrier allowed for the sacrifice of the drone-ship to retaliate against a target.
There are a LOT of asymmetries involved that we are just now beginning to consider.
AI is a game changer that humans have a hard time coping with, because it so radically alters an environment that it makes predicting future changes difficult.
MB