A company that specializes in early wildfire detection has developed a new, AI-based drone that it says will help speed up the detection, location and monitoring of fires.
There are already applications (you can buy such drones) for spotting thieves and also for spotting migrants. It’s mostly used for night-time monitoring.
Do migrants let off different heat signatures than locals? How does that work? And what’s the rate of on-foot irregular migration across German forests?
Look, I get it, people like to be paranoid about surveilance and “AI-based drone” is a great catchphrase to get social media juices flowing. I’ll say this, though: I’ve never had to fend off thieves, migrants or overzealous government officials from a forest-adjacent home, but I HAVE been on a driveway with a hose fighting off a forest fire in more than one occasion.
Early detection of forest fires is something I am willing to support in most circumstances. Hypothetical threats and slippery slopes aren’t going to cut it. On paper I’m no more paranoid about automated drones than about manned air and land fire patrols, and we already have those during high risk season.
So I don’t know if we need to buy flying drones, but we could definitely use some effective, automated early detection for very practical reasons. I wanna know if an implementation of it works, not whether it’s a step towards a surveillance dystopia. Especially since we already live in one of those and carry the equipment in our pocket willingly.
Also, while I’m here, if you do own a plot of forested area make sure you do cleanup and maintenance on it yearly, sell it or donate to the public. Seriously, don’t be a dick.
There are already applications (you can buy such drones) for spotting thieves and also for spotting migrants. It’s mostly used for night-time monitoring.
Do migrants let off different heat signatures than locals? How does that work? And what’s the rate of on-foot irregular migration across German forests?
Look, I get it, people like to be paranoid about surveilance and “AI-based drone” is a great catchphrase to get social media juices flowing. I’ll say this, though: I’ve never had to fend off thieves, migrants or overzealous government officials from a forest-adjacent home, but I HAVE been on a driveway with a hose fighting off a forest fire in more than one occasion.
Early detection of forest fires is something I am willing to support in most circumstances. Hypothetical threats and slippery slopes aren’t going to cut it. On paper I’m no more paranoid about automated drones than about manned air and land fire patrols, and we already have those during high risk season.
So I don’t know if we need to buy flying drones, but we could definitely use some effective, automated early detection for very practical reasons. I wanna know if an implementation of it works, not whether it’s a step towards a surveillance dystopia. Especially since we already live in one of those and carry the equipment in our pocket willingly.
Also, while I’m here, if you do own a plot of forested area make sure you do cleanup and maintenance on it yearly, sell it or donate to the public. Seriously, don’t be a dick.
I agree that the drones and their sensors can be used for good things too. That was the initial point: dual use.