Ever disturbed a wasp’s nest? I have and it was both uncomfortable and interesting. Interesting because the attacking wasps went straight for their target, me! No fly past, no choosing landing sites, no buzzing around, just straight in.
So, it was with this in mind that my interest was piqued by news that a research project named Roborder funded by the EU (Horizon 2020) aims to have ‘swarms’ of AI piloted drones intercepting ‘illegals’ at the borders.
Making use of signals emanating from a subject’s mobile phone (amongst other surveillance techniques) the drones will be able to triangulate persons of interest and go and investigate. Using a mixture of sensors they aim only to determine whether they are human and pose a risk. Ultimately the data gathered gets fed back to a control room somewhere. ET ringing home shouldn’t flag up a problem.
There is a concern here though, it seems in some societies drones already carry tasers, pepper spray and rubber bullets. It is understood that for this project, only seek and report drones will be used.
There is a possibility however that in developing Roborder, the underlying technology could find itself on a wish list in some other countries once this project has reached fruition (2020 – 2021)
I would direct readers to 7.1.6 ‘Misuse’ of Roborder’s Project Management and Quality Assurance Plan where they kindly list (in a publicly accessible document) the groups who may be interested in the technology. No s*#t Sherlock!
The iconoclast in me sees a Yeti, bear or pantomime horse costume at the top of the shopping list for the wannabe border crosser. Oh and don’t forget to take the battery out of your mobile phone!