Transcript
CAROLINE
Hi, everyone. We are going to have a chat about drones today. Are they a miracle or are they a menace? I had a look online about the earliest use of drones, and the earliest recorded use was in 1849 in Austria, when Austrian forces used balloons to drop bombs in Venice.
ALEX
Wow.
MARTIN
In 1849?
CAROLINE
1849, yeah.
MARTIN
It's reassuring, isn't it? The first known use of them was for bad.
CAROLINE
Yes. I think most of the media I've seen about drones is the negative side of it, where they've been used in prisons, used for criminal activity. Alec, do you have any thoughts about that?
ALEC
Well, the thing about the prisons is that, as you say, it's a lot easier now that maybe people would be able to distribute maybe drugs and weapons into prisons, which previously was a lot harder. People might have to actually get up close to the prison. I don't know how they did - like chuck it over maybe. Whereas now, they can do a lot more distance.
MARTIN
Because they can be programmed as well, can't they? So you can programme it in advance. You don't actually have to be in the vicinity.
CAROLINE
That's not so good, is it? What do you think, Alex?
ALEX
No. That's quite scary, really, because then the police and the Army and stuff need to be like two steps ahead. If they are used for bad, how are we going to figure out who did it? If they're doing it from afar, that must be really hard.
CAROLINE
Yeah. one of other negative uses as well is the paparazzi using it to take images of when celebrities are swimming in their pool or taking their kids to school. And that goes to talk about trespassing as well.
MARTIN
It's widely accepted that each person owns a particular plot of land. You have your house, you have your gardens on it, and if people go on that without invitation, they're trespassing. But does that apply to the airspace above that? I think there's ambiguity in the law as to what is trespassing.
And that exploits that ambiguity, which can only be a bad thing. I'm not a celebrity, so no one's interested in what I'm doing. But for people who are of interest to the public, that must be a nightmare.
CAROLINE
That's just some of the bad things that we're talking about, but they can be used for good as well. So for example, for medical purposes. So if you think about a village in Africa, a very remote village where there might be a clinic that's miles and miles and miles away, no transport, drones could be used to drop vital medical supplies, especially if there's an outbreak of some communicable disease or infection. It could be really lifesaving.
ALEX
That's incredible. That's what I like about it, is saving lives, saving lots of lives. I like that.
MARTIN
Yeah, you hear of situations and you see on things like Comic Relief people walk for days to get to a hospital or get to a clinic. And that takes too long because they're too far away, so they don't make it and the children don't make it. But having a drone that can actually deliver the medicine means that more people will survive. Can only be a good thing.
ALEX
If there's an earthquake or a tsunami or anything like that, they need to get supplies out there. And you might not be able to get there via truck or car or any kind of a helicopter, so a drone might be perfect for that.
ALEC
Well, the good thing is that they have cameras attached. I think I heard that they use thermal imaging cameras -
MARTIN
They do.
ALEC
- that can actually find people in trouble.
CAROLINE
Yeah, that's a really good point, Alec.
ALEX
Oh, that's brilliant.
CAROLINE
Yeah. So that's a really positive use for drones. And then there's a commercial use and a creative use as well. So for example, I read somewhere about drones being used to deliver goods. That might be quite good.
MARTIN
I'd like to see a drone come down and manage to open a letterbox and put post in.
ALEX
That would be good.
MARTIN
But maybe that's to come in the future.
ALEC
I think definitely.
ALEX
Oh yeah, definitely.
ALEC
I can just imagine it with little arms. We already have the little drones but on wheels that go around posting around. I think they've started piloting that with some towns and cities in England.
CAROLINE
And what about for photography or video making? That would be good for that as well, especially taking photographs or video of landscapes. And also, when you think about nature programmes as well, when you see migrations of animals as well and you see it, it's all aerial views.
ALEC
Yeah.
ALEX
Yeah. That's incredible.
ALEC
Well, it's definitely brought the costs down.
CAROLINE
Definitely, yeah.
ALEC
For those wildlife shows or in films, they would have had to use a helicopter. So that cuts that out. It also means amateurs can just get a cheap drone too. People online that do vlogs might include a bit of drone footage to make their video a bit more exciting.
CAROLINE
That's really interesting.
ALEX
There are the cheaper versions of drones, the 70 or 30 quid drones which the kids are into.
CAROLINE
Yes, of course. That's right.
ALEX
Which is fabulous. They can go on holiday or go to the local park and do it. But then, I think that's when it crosses into who owns the land, the airspace, and everything like that. Then that's when -
CAROLINE
And privacy as well.
ALEC
Exactly. And then when you've got children like that and then the parents are responsible, it gets a bit sticky, I think, and then it's a bit difficult.
CAROLINE
And I think at that point is a good point to wrap up, then, just to sum up, each of us, what we think about drones. Alec, what do you think about drones then?
ALEC
Well, we discussed the negatives, but I'd say on balance, they're net positive for mankind just because of all the cool things they can do. So yeah.
CAROLINE
OK. Thank you. Alex?
ALEX
I'm pretty much the same. I really like the commercial side and the photography side. But I really don't like the privacy side, and obviously we need to sort that out. And I don't know if that's going to be a long journey or a short journey to figuring out the end. But yeah, I think overall they're quite good.
CAROLINE
OK. Thank you. Martin?
MARTIN
I think there's huge potential with them to do a whole load of good things with them. But I think at the moment there's a bit too much ambiguity in the law, in the regulations. So if that gets sorted out, then hopefully that will make things clearer as to what can be done, what can't be done. And then we can focus on the positives they bring.
CAROLINE
OK. Thank you. I pretty much agree with all of you. As technology advances, it would be really good to see what the next stage will be and what we can do for good.
MARTIN
Absolutely.
CAROLINE
So thanks very much.
MARTIN
Thank you.