The World of Drones

1.) In 300-500 words what is your thoughts about this topic.

The idea of drones was conceived and developed over a large period of time. The idea has grown into what the world knows today. The use of unmanned air vehicles has proven extremely useful, whether it be for military use, law enforcement, or even civilian enjoyment. But with this newfound technology comes a series of ethical issues. Is the military abusing its ability to take potentially dangerous lives? Are their air strikes doing more harm than good? Do people have the ability to use their privately-owned drones to spy on others information? Are law enforcement monitoring civilians without their knowledge, and for no reason? This technology has its many benefits, but it is also causing issues; and there is no easy solution. There is an entire world out there that revolves around the creation and use of drones. Of course, world is not referring to a celestial body in space, but rather a society of people who take great interest in drones. Since their conception in the early 1900s, the use of an unmanned device has intrigued inventors for over a century. Today they are being used professionally, militaristically, and even recreationally. But with this entire world of drones comes with its own issues, and there are several ethical matters to be discussed. First, an insight on how drones came to be. The concept for utilizing an unmanned aerial device originated surprisingly long ago in 1863, when Charles Perley patented the idea to use a timed balloon device to release bombs on armies in the Civil War. They were tested and proved ineffective. Over the course of nearly a century, attempts similar to these balloon bombers were tried and ultimately failed. There simply was not enough radio technology to reliably control an unmanned device. But through the study of Rocketry, cruise missiles were developed, which were in a sense prototype drones. By 1970, countries had need for surveillance without risking human life, so the pursuit for unmanned aircraft began once again. A simple plane was developed to perform a simple flight and take pictures/crude footage. Drone development took off from this point as different countries made small improvements at a time. Finally, in 1994, America revealed the RQ-1 Predator drone, a heavily utilized tool in modern warfare. Capable of flying at an altitude of 24,000ft with IR cameras, this unmanned aerial vehicle has proven to be an elite military spying device. The Predator drone is still used today and has served as the foundation for other well used drones, such as the Reaper drone. The leading motivation in the development for drones came heavily from a militaristic point of view. People wanted to accomplish important tasks without the risk of human life. It was this desire that pushed the development of drones for over a century. However, people began to realize that drones could theoretically be used for things other than military tasks. The breakthrough for Remote Control led to the production of RC Cars and Helicopters in the 70s/80's. As interesting as they were, most RC Helicopters couldnt be used for much other than recreation due to their unreliable performance. The primary issue with RC Helicopters is the use of a single rotor to provide lift for the aircraft. This single point of lift does not provide optimal stability and performance. To obtain optimal performance, the use of four rotors would have to be incorporated, thus introducing the idea of a quad-copter. The development of quad copters actually began in the early 1920s when people created very large pedal-powered aircrafts. These werent very functional, and a proper creation was not established until a few decades later, but these aircraft were all large and manned. Sometime around 2010, smaller unmanned drones started to become popular. The design work and research/development came from several sources, and now different companies produce different drones with different quality for different roles. Drones have been created for simple recreational use like the use of RC Helicopters. Theyve also been designed to house small cameras and are used to obtain footage of special events, such as sports and parades. Some quadcopters are even designed to be used for military purposes, such as reconnaissance. For years now, quadcopters have grown in popularity, and along with the popularity, several ethical dilemmas arose. One rather heated ethical debate revolves around the military use for drones. Drones allow the military to send out scouts and explosive weaponry out without risking human life. They also claim that the weapon systems on drones are far more accurate than other weaponry, which means less collateral damage. However, some individuals claim that it does not decrease the collateral damage. Over recent years, hundreds of civilians have been killed as collateral to drone strikes, including two hostages in Pakistan and a wedding party in Yemen. Critics wonder if this use of drone strikes is really that accurate and if the attacks should end to prevent further civilian casualties. This debate is tough to tackle. On one end, there have been many innocent lives lost due to misinformation or even unfortunate circumstances related to drone attacks. At the other end of the argument, statistics have shown that substantially more people have been killed by terrorists than drones. Drones are also the reason that many terrorist leaders have been found and killed. All the while, people in these terrorist territories are being killed by both terrorists and drone strikes. There is no simple solution, and a solution needs to be reached in a timely manner, making this a very difficult topic. Beside wanting to end attacks to end the loss of innocent lives, some people also believe that these drone strikes fuel terrorism, and that if the strikes end, so too will the terrorism. Others believe that terrorism will persist regardless of drone strikes, and that the only way to end terrorism is to be rid of the terrorists. While the answer wont come unless drone strikes cease, it is unlikely that ending drone strikes will end terrorism, seeing as how terrorists have wanted to kill Americans since before drones were in military use. Terrorists have also mentioned taking a ground war to us, which implies that if drones were taken out of play, they would continue their attacks. Another interesting ethical dilemma regarding the military use of drones is simply the lack of human input. While humans are required to pilot the non-automated drones, they do so in a room hundreds of miles away while looking at a screen. Some believe that this ability to kill from a distance causes us to become desensitized to the concept of taking a life. It is believed that decisions to commence an attack may be reached too hastily because they see nothing more than images on a screen and arent there in person to make the call. However, the entire purpose of a drone is to commence these attacks without putting one of our owns lives at risk. In recent years, our law enforcement has also started taking interest in drones. Several states requested the use of military grade Predator drones, and they have been used for intelligence missions such as tracking down criminals. However, some people feel like these drones are being used to spy on innocent people. There was a documented incident of partygoers in Miami being monitored by a smaller Quadcopter drone which was being operated by police. It is speculated that police are using this technology to monitor people who have not done anything wrong. While it is very beneficial to use drones to track down criminals and stop potential threats, are they taking it too far? Aside from the ethics of using drones for military and law enforcement purposes, there are other known issues with drone use in everyday life. Anyone can obtain a quadcopter with a mounted camera. Most people use this technology to record fun events, some use them to obtain footage of themselves doing something impressive; but there are always individuals who utilize technology for misdeeds. Drones are being used for all kinds of prying crimes, such as watching someones property, watching an ATM to see peoples financial information, and even watching a playground with kids. Tensions are rising as people feel like their privacy is being violated and drones are being targeted by many as a threat. The creation of drones and other unmanned vehicles is extraordinary, and their capabilities are immensely helpful. From monitoring, to preventing dangers, to being a fun toy for everyone; these devices are a certain stepping stone toward the future. But at what cost? They are capable of such good, but also capable of extreme evil. As of now there is no having one without the other, so do we keep producing and utilizing drones? Do we press on and find ways to make the best out of this technology? There must be a way to make the best of this concept.