Amazon 's First Delivery Via Drone

Menacing spy craft... unmanned aerial vehicles... and missile laden predators. These are the images that come to mind when the word "drone" is spoken. Taken to new heights during the Global War on Terror, military drones have struck fear into the hearts of America's enemies. Now the U.S. government is starting to look inward toward its next target: the American people. Already starting along the US/Mexico border, big brother is indiscriminately watching whole neighborhoods via high tech zoom and heat imaging technology. There is even a debate in congress as to whether it is lawful for an American citizen to be killed by a missile firing drone. These actions and debates have caused legitimate concerns for the American people in regards to

Because of the Vietnam War, drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are still used in the modern society. Drones have become more advanced and methodological to provide updated images of particular locations or fly greater distances than an airplane. As P.W. Singer confirmed drones are the most revolutionary change in weapons technology in the history of man and are considered to be equivalent to the invention of the computer according to Bill Gates. Both of these given statements are ascertained through their use not only in war, but also surveillance, agriculture, and the building of the database by scientists for climate change.

When the topic of drones is brought up, some may think they are not among us and are objects of the future, while others may have one that they’ve built themselves and put to use already. Drones are being talked about more and more but not necessarily all for good reasons. The reading titled “From the Eyes of a Drone” by Tomas van Houtryve touches upon how drones affect surveillance, photography, and use for weapons. In a BBC article, “Drones: What Are They and How Do They Work?” the author goes into specific detail on how the United States is planning to use drones for the military. If regular drone use becomes a normality in society, it is true that amazing photography will be a positive outcome but what about privacy? Drones can aid the military as well, but if they are released for the general public to use on the daily things may get out of control. While drones can impact several aspects of life positively, they can create even more harm than one may think.

One of the main hyposisthist that is surrounding the inhabitation of the advantages of UAVs,

Technological advancement has improved the consumer drones and the services they provide. Scientific innovations such as GPS, autopilot systems, support software as well as the use of auto-stabilizing cameras have made the consumer life full of imagination. “These drones have the ability to fly at a programmed route while taking aerial photos and video recording even in the presence of bad weather conditions and greater heights that make it impossible for pilots (Corrigan)”. Which in itself is pretty incredible. “The aerial photography achieved is with greater accuracy, therefore, they could be used to make site surveys, monitoring crops, aerial 3-D mapping, military surveillance, world life protection, and search and rescue operations (Handwerk)” which make the consumer drone not just for the amatuar

Drones have taken the interest of militaries and private companies across the world. The “global market for unmanned aerial vehicles is now $6 billion a year” and that “more than fifty countries moving to acquire drones” Charleston Gazette journalists wrote (Pg1). Most of these are military drones, for private companies and the military to use. Many would argue that offensive and defensive drone use should have many safeguards in place that are backed up by international law. This would be to keep militaries and private users from violating human rights agreements, and to help prevent breaches of privacy. While drone strikes eliminate american casualties, they “also help distance the public from what is going on” as journalist Juan Cole iterated (Pg1) .

In our ever aging society new ideas are being made each and every day. Autonomous drones are one of these relatively new ideas that could help or turn out to be disastrous. These drones are capable of sifting through hundreds of hours of video very quickly, or help our soldiers survive in the battlefield. This is of course in a perfect world. In the real world autonomous drones have to many unanswered questions. They aren’t held accountable under international law and they don’t have common sense like a soldier would on the battlefield. They could possibly start an unintentional war. They are too risky to be used in warfare and they are too unpredictable to be trusted with the lives of soldiers. This amount of risk has called for a lot of attention by human rights lawyers.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS) universally known as Drones is a small state of the art aircraft controlled by well-trained professionals or pilots and these drones can be controlled and deployed from any remote location. Drones are widely used by Military for surveillance, reconnaissance and on some occasions they are used to neutralize enemy forces without the need of invasive military engagement. Due to the advancement in technology and to the success rate of the use of drones, the Law enforcement is launching its use in their day to day activities.

I primarily believe that the effect of the information of this article will mainly focus on how people view drones. This is due to how the article discusses the issue with drones being a possible invader of one’s privacy. At first glance, I thought the issue may let them be viewed with a bad eye. However, it does seem that people see drones in a positive eye despite the problems that had surfaced. This may be due to the public’s appeal on drones as well as the convenience of using drones when filming for journalists and others. Over the year since this article was published drones have seemingly grown more popular. This article serves as more of an informative article, discussing the general ethical problems concerning drones. All in all, I believe this article will mostly affect the public’s opinion than anything

UAVs, which is defined as an “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” by the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association, saw an increase in its efficiency during the Vietnam War, where they saw their first actual combat missions. Currently, there are two UAV programs active ; one that remains public about the use of drones under military advisement, and the second remains covert under the umbrella of the CIA.(Trump Gives CIA Authority for Drone Strikes). While UAVs are mostly prominent in Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen for intelligence gathering and other various attacks to stop terrorists, their major uses sprang into action after September 11th. Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles are controlled by trained pilots from the ground or it follows a pre-programmed mission to be auto-piloted for more complex missions. Along with gathering intelligence by following around a target for hours at a time, the majority of drones in the military are used for planned attacks and strikes on many terrorist countries. Solar panel technology has started to be implemented allowing for flights up to “81 hours” (Venkataramanan, Madhumita) and could dramatically improve how long the government spends attacking and surveying

Drone software, services and platforms are maturing rapidly, vastly outpacing the laws that guide their use. The chasm between what drones can do and what they are allowed to do is a Rubicon that must be crossed if we are to reap the benefits of the drone economy.

Technology has been advancing for centuries, making it virtually impossible to imagine life as the first human, millions of years ago. Although our lives haven’t changed drastically in the past two years alone, there have still been remarkable achievements in the field of technology. These triumphs have had a great impact on society, while existing technologies have continued to shape our day-to-day lives. Drones are a great example of technology that is not new, but has simply been reinvented to become more relevant to the average person. Two years ago, most people would immediately associate drones with military operations, but now drones have been commercialized to the point that my dad suggested that I buy a drone as a gift for my cousin. There are all kinds of emerging applications for drone technology; anything from aerial photography to science and research

Although more and more restrictions and conflicts appear, drone technology proves its usefulness in both recreation and emergency situations.

Many critics of drones raise the legitimate concern that the government’s collection of aerial imagery and video will enable pervasive surveillance that allows the government to know what all citizens are doing at all points in time, and even will allow government officials to review footage years after its collection, revealing the most intimate details about a person’s life. This is not a problem unique to drones, but is rather a recurring theme in critiques of all video and still imagery collection. Legislators should adopt

Drone technology is advancing rapidly and it is changing the way in which things are being done. Drones are widely used by many people as a hobby or for career purposes, as well as for military purposes by the United States. Drones provide the U.S military with many benefits, which helps the military to operate efficiently and in a safe manner. Businesses are utilizing this technology as well in order to make their companies run more efficiently, as well as to improve their customer service. Drone technology will positively impact our society; drastically change our culture and political system and definitely advance our economy as well as help enhance our environment.