Published Sep 12, 2024 · Updated Sep 12, 2024

Sebastian Buckup

Head of Network and Partnerships; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum

This article is part of:Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

• This monthly round-up brings you the latest news from the world of technology.
• Top tech stories: Teams of drones piloted by AI could prevent wildfires; Sixth US state adopts ‘right to repair’ law for consumer electronics; Apple plans to use OLED displays for all iPhone models.

1. Teams of drones piloted by AI could prevent wildfires

Drones piloted by artificial intelligence (AI), rather than humans, could soon work together in teams to prevent wildfires, say researchers.

Swarms of up to 30 autonomous planes would be able to spot and put out flames which can lead to wildfires by working collectively using AI, if a study in the UK is a success.

The team of firefighters, engineers and scientists working on the research – which is still in the test phase and has not yet been used on a wildfire – say their project is the first to combine unpiloted drone technology with swarm engineering for firefighting.

Drones piloted by people are already used in firefighting, to detect hidden blazes and assess safety risks, among other tasks.

The drones that researchers want to eventually use for firefighting are large twin-engined aircraft with a wingspan of 9.5 metres and huge water-carrying capacity. They are already designed to fly without any intervention from remote pilots.

Now the next stage of the project, swarm engineering, aims to make lots of robots work together in real-world applications.

Professor Sabine Hauert, from the University of Bristol, one of the project partners, told the BBC: “When you look at birds and ants and bees, they can do beautiful, complex behaviours by coordinating – and so we take inspiration from that to coordinate large numbers of robots.”

For more on how technology can be used to combat the impacts of climate change, see the Forum's Tech for Climate Adaptation initiative.

DISCOVER