It wasn’t long ago the idea people would move round the globe in airborne metal carriers or order all manner of things to our doors through magic boxes would have been cast off as madness; so does the idea of artificially intelligent drones as prolific as cars fall into the same basket (case)? AMANDA FISHER talks to drone experts to separate fact from fiction.

Okay then, what about this one: Do you think humans will one day travel places in commercial airliner drones?” I put the most outlandish question I can possibly think of to one of the UAE’s drone pioneers Hamad Musabeh.

“It might be happening today actually… my friend is a pilot and he says the whole purpose of (him) sitting there is in case something goes wrong,” Musabeh tells me, a slight devilish amusement in his tone.

Musabeh is obviously minimising the role of the pilot for effect, but the point is valid: planes already fly largely on autopilot, so it’s not a giant leap the role of pilot could one day be moribund.

But first, society’s current suspicion of drones will have to metamorphose.

“If you tell people this plane will fly you without a pilot no one will get on the plane, (but) once people become more comfortable I think it will be okay.”

Musabeh is at the forefront of drone innovation and, along with partner and fellow Emirati Abdulrahman Alserkal, has launched company Hoverlogic. They are behind the prototype drones currently being tested by the Dubai Government that are expected to start delivering Emirates ID cards and driving licenses by next year, slashing wait times and reducing traffic congestion.

Musabeh is an ardent drone fan. But I discover a strange contradiction: he would not fly on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) commercial flight.

“If you have a passenger plane with so many people and something goes wrong, you need manual intervention.”

However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Besides the little us lay people tend to hear about drones relate to killing innocent civilians and flying low over people’s back gardens, what other uses has industry found?

“Border monitoring. Some people can even use it for multimedia, like reporters, you can use it to take quick videos or capture videos for that purpose. (Farmers) can take photos of green fields and try to understand where the plants are healthy and not healthy.”

Basically in all areas of surveillance, monitoring and even delivery (pizzas in Russia; medication in Africa), drones are starting to be used. Other uses include for snapshots of project development, with rapid, mobile drones replacing expensive helicopters. Drones have also been used to survey damage to property, drop essential goods to remote areas, and to help in rescue operations.

“Rescue operations today, the guy has to patrol a big area and come back and refuel…you have to sweep the whole area. Imagine if you deploy 20 drones at the same time it will be much faster…the challenge is they don’t understand what they see, there’s a guy watching the footage trying to work out ‘Is that a human?’.”

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?…

Across the world, tech-heads are working out ways to make drones smarter.

Musabeh says fitting out drones with vision systems and forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras to gauge heat signatures will allow drones to detect and analyse what they are encountering.

“The whole idea is the camera will be able to recognise what is in front of it using algorithms…’This thing in front of me is a human’. With the infrared sensor it will confirm ‘Yes, this is a human’.”

This, in theory, is a very good thing, allowing drones to find targets like survivors trapped in earthquake rubble, while avoiding other airborne objects, such as birds.

“The smarter it gets, it will be able to make very, very advanced decisions.”

In fact, UAE-based company Exponent Technology Services has just developed a drone with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in order to help traders track stock in warehouses full to the brim of various orders.

Exponent’s Chief Operating Officer Asam Khan is predicting the drone technology will save UAE traders millions of dollars in operations costs.

“Uniquely identifying the bundle (is) not the problem, but locating it accurately within a large open yard that sees tens of thousands of tons of steel product shipped in, internally moved and shipped out monthly.”

There seems to be no end to drone enhancement, and artificial intelligence is not out of the question. Is Musabeh worried about creating technology that is essentially smarter than humans?

“For me personally, no. I don’t have that hesitation. Why? Because there is something that makes humans unique. It’s really hard when you say ‘artificial intelligence’ to say a robot will make a decision by itself…it’s how much we give them instructions. It’s all about how we will design them. It’s up to us, to be very frank. Will we use them to make this technology helpful to us or harmful?

“Will (drones) one day become self-learning maybe? I don’t know… Will the drone become smart enough to take its own decision? I believe so.”

But if a drone gets to the point where it is making its own decisions, surely it is also capable of making the wrong one?

“If it takes the opposite decision, the logic didn’t work properly… these things will happen, humans make the same mistakes… I don’t think it should be a factor that makes us stop developing this technology, let’s look at the bright side of how it will help humans.”

Drones are automated and therefore should make less mistakes than fallible, distracted humans. Musabeh says we will “hamper ourselves” by being overly-cautious. But he concedes there are dangers.

“Every technology will advance in a way and can be used for good or bad… I can put a canon on top of a car and use it as a war vehicle — it’s the same here. We cannot be naive and say this technology will be only be used for good…the main driver was for war, that’s why it’s got its bad reputation.”

Part of the solution, Musabeh says, is tightly-controlled distribution of military drones to ensure they are “not within civil reach”.

“If it gets in the wrong hands and someone is determined and persistent to use it for something bad, he will achieve it…We have to be responsible as a country and a government and technology providers to not put it in the wrong hands.”

Musabeh is in the business of developing civil drones for “very good purposes”.

Local company goes Hollywood

One Dubai company using drones for good is Surface Photography, founded by partners Jonathan Gainer and Oliver Jackson. The duo have been using drones for about a year, first taking on the technology for a client building a property in Dubai Marina.

“They wanted to sell apartments that were yet to be built so we shot multiple-image panoramas from a drone at the height of each balcony of the apartment they were marketing.”

Since then the drone work has been taking up incrementally more time, and they have recently finished drone photography near the Burj Khalifa for a development by Emaar, one of a suite of top clients such as Tecom and Mubadala.

“The great thing about a drone is that you don’t a need a crane, it flies on its own and you can lock in exact altitude and GPS coordinates corresponding to a point on a building to give a completely precise view from an apartment that has yet to be built.”

Gainer says drones fill a useful niche between crane and helicopter, while their smaller size means they are able to get within a metre of an object.

Surface Photography has also moved into the entertainment world.

“We do a lot of music videos with shots starting right in front of someone singing and then pulling back to reveal a vast expanse of desert or city.”

The company now has four different drones, worth between Dh30,000 and Dh80,000 each.

“There are four or five companies doing this in the UAE. The market is flooding because it’s an amazing technology and the images one can produce with it are cool.”

Another benefit is the camera can be moved via remote once in the air, allowing for more dynamic shots.

“Drones enable camera movements which previously required either an elaborate crane system or a helicopter. They’re cheaper, they’re easier to maintain, and the latest generations allow for very subtle movements. It’s the magic combination of camera skills and flying skills that makes for this dynamic new way of seeing things.”

Gainer says drone technology is also levelling the playing field for independent filmmakers who previously suffered from not having the big budgets of Hollywood film producers.

But while Gainer and Jackson essentially trained themselves in the art of drone photography, Gainer is concerned about the number of amateurs taking to the skies – with drones for sale on websites like Dubizzle for as low as Dh150 used and Dh350 new.

“Traffic may become a challenge. Now that they’re so popular, institutions are having to develop ways of regulating them while enabling their use in respective industries. The Film Commission and the Ministry of Defence in the UAE have been exemplary in establishing protocols allowing for the effective use of drones while keeping the skies uncluttered.”

And protocols are necessary.

“One guy flies a drone recklessly and it could have lasting ramifications for the whole industry.”

Regulating the air

As is common in burgeoning industries, many are still unclear about what rules are in place to guide their drone usage — but they do exist.

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) says all people operating drones need to have prior authorisation from them.

GCAA Assistant Director General of Aviation Safety Affairs Ismaeil Albalooshi says the general rules governing Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) (ie drones) are that small scale operations must operate outside the vicinity of aerodromes, while the larger operations must go through a set of approval processes.

“The current approval process limits the use of unmanned aircraft systems to areas clear of controlled airspace and aerodromes by containing any such operations within segregated airspace.”

This ensures drones operate in an airspace where piloted aircrafts are not permitted entry.

However, he says with the sharp increase of drone use further restrictions will come into effect. The GCAA are working with the international aviation industry, and currently have a working group developing an “RPAS Classification System” that will classify drones in accordance with performance, the type of operator and class of airspace, Albalooshi says.

“The objective of the working group is to develop State regulations and guidance to industry to enable all types of RPAS and drones to operate either within segregated areas or, if necessary, to operate within areas also used by piloted aircraft, while maintaining the same or improved levels of safety to all aircraft operators and the public.”

He recommends anyone with concerns get in touch with the GCAA .

Musabeh and Alserkal have also been a part of these discussions and recommend mandatory training and even introducing — for more sophisticated drones — a type of a licence system.

“Sooner or later this kid will fly this and will cause an accident… these regulations are not yet there and having them will make everyone suddenly relax.”

There also needed to be ‘safe zones’ where hobbyists can converge – for the benefit of society. Flying drones teaches many different skills such as engineering, flying and photography, Musabeh says.

“Many people are on the fence of this hobby because of the bad publicity and so on. I encourage (young people) because it’s very rewarding…it’s better than sitting in front of an Xbox.”