You're not the first to think of that solution. The problem is, that it leads to an increase in zombie characters--they move and follow orders, but don't really do any roleplaying. It's a "quantity" solution, when what we really want is a "quality" solution.
Well...honestly, what we need is both
More drones aren't a bad thing. What's a bad thing is more characters whose sole purpose is to prop up other characters—the knight who says nothing for months until his brother, the General (for whom he voted), is wounded, and then he starts giving orders as if he's the Marshal.