Sometimes you wonder about technological advancements. The main worry about Drones flying overhead used to be them crashing or invading your privacy especially when sunbaking. Now add a flame thrower and the world changes. A volunteer group in Zhong County, China, that normally uses a drone to find lost people attached a flamethrower to one to destroy wasp nests. It proved to be very effective.
The concern is what happens at the end of the day when someone takes the toy home or someone in the military sees them and thinks this could be of use. A flying flamethrower could be better at dispersing crowds than a water cannon.
A simple concern is that no matter how well intentioned the development of technology is someone will find a more interesting and possibly dangerous use. Cars were a great improvement on horses, but they have killed a lot more people than horses did. And let’s not discuss the good and bad of online technologies such as Facebook or Twitter!
Don’t worry the Robots aren’t coming to get us, they are probably already here.
Dennis Fitzgerald,
Melbourne, Australia
