AI may occupy a lot of space in our heads these days, but it can’t occupy our airspace — yet.
That domain belongs to another job-yoinking form of automation: drones.
… are drones that look like big birds, designed to scare off smaller birds.
The Drone Bird Company built a fleet of drones resembling birds of prey, hoping their lifelike robo-hawks can help bird-tormented professionals — like farmers and airport managers — keep avian pests away from crops and airplane engines.
These “birds” may soon become hawkish in yet another way; the Dutch startup suggests military espionage as a possible application.
Ad-towing pilots could soon be unemployed if Sustainable Skylines’ drones take over the sky-advertising business as planned.
There’s an environmental bent here — the Miami-based startup says its drones would reduce the banner-tugging industry’s carbon footprint by 90% — but this isn’t simply a feel-good story about the ozone; it’s a big business play in an aerial ad market estimated to be worth $8.5B by 2027.
Sustainable Skylines will analyze its drones’ routes alongside cellphone data, solving a current pain point for sky-marketers — clarity on how many eyes might’ve seen their banners.
Pilots, naturally, aren’t thrilled about losing a reliable way to accrue flight hours and score ~$50/hour.
The Indian government is testing drones for blood bag delivery, trying to improve timely delivery of lifesaving blood cells, plasma, and platelets to remote areas.