Drones and AI: What Does New Technology Mean for Your Business? From the Floor of Commercial UAV Expo

From the floor of Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas this morning, a panel on drones and AI – and what new advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology mean for the commercial drone industry.

Moderated by Drone Industry Insights‘ Kay Wackwitz, the panel featured a variety of stakeholders: Brandon Groves from drone manufacturer Skydio, Barrit Lovelace from drone users and stakeholders Collins Engineers, and Travis Mason from automated pilot software provider Merlin Labs.

“We need to discuss not only the ‘wow’ factor of AI, but the ‘how’ factor,” said Wackwitz.

What is AI for Your Business?

In the context of the drone industry, AI is a buzzword used to describe everything from flight planning to data analysis.  Skydio’s Brandon Groves had an eloquent description of what AI means to the manufacturer, known for its autonomy platform.

“AI is a suite of technologies that allow computers and machines to perform tasks previously…