Robotic Nation Evidence

"How long before the ship needs zero people?"

I would guess 100 years. How long before it takes 1 person? I would guess 15 years. I believe it will be hard for society to remove the human element so quickly from such monstrous ships- even if this human element is more symbolic than functional.
 

There are going to be humans in 100 years?

Within 30 years, I believe many of us will be cyborgs. (You've seen the people with the cell phone permanently stuck in their ears, right?) Further, AI will probably be very advanced. We'll be used to the artificial intelligences making decisions for a while by then.

I think it would be only the most conservative organizations that still have humans in the boat by that point.

There are no living cargo in those boats. People will be happy to run them without anyone onboard, inside.

Come to think of it, they'll probably be run by 1/100'th of a person. There will be one person "manning" 100 ships. Like the guys in the server farm, manning 100's of computers.

There's your token human. :)

-- Lion