Living With Drones

By Professor Andy Miah

An edited version of this was published in The Big Issue (2020)

I remember my first encounter with a drone vividly. It was 2013, the year before drones really hit the big time in consumer terms. And, from the moment it blasted into the sky, I felt that this would be a game changer.

I had heard about drones before, of course. Everyone had. The US Predator drone was etched into the public consciousness. This new, superweapon signalled a new kind of warfare which removed the combatant from the field of conflict. The Predator was not just another new weapon, it was a device that would completely transform the means by which conflicts were resolved. It was the perfect metaphor for modern society, lived at a distance through remote, digitally mediated devices.

However, the drones that really gained prominence in the years that followed were those we now see around us all the time, in streets, at parks, at events, and whose remarkable film footage we see now in reporting of all major events, from natural disasters to epic fantasy films. They range in size, but among the most powerful examples are no more than 60 centimetres in diameter, with rotating blades smaller than pencils. They can fly to extraordinary heights, distances, and even figure out how to avoid colliding into…