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The rising geopolitical tensions across the globe have incentivized countries to step up their defense strategies. This comes on the heels of escalating tensions between the U.S. and China and the prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine. The latest crisis in the Middle East has also fueled the urgency in developing next-generation military technology.
With the rising popularity of artificial intelligence (AI), AI-powered drones are the latest tech slated to revolutionize the defense industry. Apart from their use in weaponry, smart drones are highly coveted in the retail space, as unmanned gadgets are expected to reduce the cost of operations significantly down the line.
Prominent military analysts claim artificial intelligence will mark a pivotal moment in military capabilities, akin to the significance of the introduction of nuclear weapons. AI systems' ability to scrutinize surveillance imagery, medical records, social media activity and online shopping preferences will enable micro-targeting — executing precision attacks with drones or advanced weaponry on critical combatants or commanders.
Possibly even more groundbreaking than autonomous weaponry is the potential for AI systems to assist military leaders in making informed decisions by processing and analyzing the immense volume of data collected from sources such as satellites, radars, sonar networks, signals intelligence and online traffic.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks stated that the country is planning to field "multiple thousands" of autonomous, unmanned drones and other systems over the next two years. In March, U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III stated that the country is aiming to build a fleet of 1,000 fighter drones.
Nonetheless, critics have highlighted the significant risks associated with AI-driven robots independently making lethal decisions, citing the potential for humanitarian crises. Many have advocated for a temporary halt in AI research until a consensus is reached on regulations concerning AI's military use.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun to greenlight drones for retail delivery, marking the beginning of a flurry of unmanned package deliveries. This regulatory achievement has been a goal that drone manufacturers have pursued for a decade. UPS subsidiary Flight Forward and drone delivery company Zipline International Inc. were among the few to receive FAA "beyond the visual line of sight" approval.
Before this landmark achievement, drone companies were mandated to station employees as "human observers" to ensure smooth air traffic. The updated regulations permit drone operations without r observers a change anticipated to enhance the accessibility and scalability of the still-emerging drone industry in the United States.
"For the last few years, we've been operating in the U.S. with training wheels," Zipline CEO Keller Cliffton said. "We were able to make deliveries to homes, but we always needed to stay within a mile-and-a-half of our distribution centers, which made it easy to serve tens of thousands of people but impossible to serve hundreds of thousands of people."
In addition, the recent regulatory approvals might pave the way for consumer-oriented retail giants like Walmart Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to accelerate their endeavors in using unmanned aircraft for goods delivery.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Russia-Ukraine war exposed the weaknesses of the global logistics system, resulting in major supply chain bottlenecks worldwide. Drone deliveries are expected to relieve the additional pressures on global logistics, especially for packages weighing less than 5 pounds.
Cliffton, whose company designed drone P2 Zip to deliver packages weighing up to 8 pounds, stated, "The reason that number is important is that when you look at e-commerce in the U.S., a vast majority of packages weigh 5 pounds or less."
The recent FAA approvals are among the first worldwide, which should allow the U.S. to maintain its dominance in the AI-powered drone industry.
"Both the FAA and Congress know that it is really strategically important for the U.S. to stay in the lead when it comes to this fundamental technological transformation that's happening, where it's suddenly now possible to build the first logistics systems that are fully zero emission and automated," Cliffton said.
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