`Nova' explores drones' use in war, surveillance
By Rob Lowman Staff Writer
In PBS' "Nova: Rise of the Drones" - a look at the rapid evolution of unmanned flying robots - an ominous note is quickly sounded. Are we in danger of becoming some sci-fi world like "The Terminator" where the machines run us rather than the other way around? With drones now moving from the battlefield to homeland use, an even more ominous note is being struck. As the head of one paparazzi agency reportedly said about the possibility of using a drone to spy on stars, "It will strike fear into the heart of any celebrity thinking about having an outdoor birthday party." "That's the world we're going into," joked Dr. Peter W. Singer, senior fellow and director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, at a panel on the program at the recent Television Critics Association meeting in Pasadena. OK, you may not care about celebs, but we are entering a new age, whether you like it or not. The 2012 FAA Reauthorization Act orders the agency to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015. It is projected that some 30,000 drones could be crisscrossing the nation's skies by 2020. Right now most people are aware of the CIA's armed Predator drone program, which has targeted al-Qaida leaders and is a key component of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and other places. One of the panelists was Abe Karem, an aeronautics pioneer known as the "father of the Predator," who began to build the prototype for his drone or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) during the 1980s in his garage. Much of "Rise of the Drones" is a well-paced explanation on how UAVs were developed and are changing warfare. Some people may find the rapidly growing sophistication of these robots alarming. One segment shows a group of small drones working together like a swarm of bees. Toward the end of the program, there is an image of a woman sunbathing in a bikini in her backyard and a small drone hovering overhead. "The key components to drone technology are already available to virtually anybody," the narrator has already intoned. A "hobbyist" from Orange County - one of thousands across the country - then describes how he made his drone for $500 in his workshop. As with all technology, there is a debate whether drones will be used for good or bad. But even Karem, who defended his invention, admitted there is a need for regulation. "Right now," he says, "you can go to a store and buy for $200 a hovering machine automated with a camera." Already drones are being used on our borders to detect illegal immigration, and more police departments are investing in them for surveillance. There are even private groups using them for their own ends. The program interviews one group spying on what they believed to be illegal hunters, which makes you wonder what others might do, especially considering the low cost building a UAV. But the expansion of drone programs is not just in the U.S., where the Air Force is training more remote pilots than manned fighter and bomber pilots combined. Singer says some 55 countries are developing their own UAV programs. As for our future privacy, the panel seemed split - or at least unsure. "We are our own worst enemies in that regard. Every one of us carrying cellphones, we take pictures and oftentimes these end up on the Internet," says University of Pennsylvania scientist Vijay Kumar, a drone expert. "On the positive side, I think you really have now the ability for these UAVs to go take pictures. Particularly, imagine the aftermath of a disaster, to respond to that immediately. The first responders someday will no longer be humans. They'll be robots." Singer, though, calls the rise of drones "a game changer" when it comes to issues of privacy, especially with more police departments moving to use them. "I think of the old `Where's Waldo?' books," says Singer, author of "Wired for War." "Even if you're just trying to find Waldo, you're going to pick up footage of a lot of other people. And I don't mean this in a nefarious `1984' way, but it just means that a lot more people are going to be brought under observation." Rob Lowman 818-713-3687  Follow Rob Lowman on Twitter at  Nova: Rise of the Drones What: How aerial robots are changing the world. When: 9 p.m. Wednesday. Where: PBS SoCal (KOCE). Advertisement