As a Grand Challenges Scholar, part of the experience is to devote to your challenge outside of the United States. My first global experience will happen in the summer of 2023 in Singapore, where I will work on drone technology and investigate the ethics of improving such technology.
Tech and Infrastructure in Singapore
In 2023, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, and Dario Amodei signed a letter from the Center for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety stating that the entire globe should begin worrying about the dangers of AI and subsequent risks of human extinction. Each of these scientists have an important feature in common; they all have made billions of dollars off their own inventions and improvements of AI. This warning therefore comes after scientists have left AI to a capitalist society where derivative technologies are flourishing and not likely to halt. It is an issue of misplaced responsibility when researchers capitalize on their inventions, ignore possible harmful applications on the public, and then expect the same public to claim responsibility for mitigating the technology.
While I don’t work on AI, my own research at Duke to make unmanned aerial vehicles, or “drones,” has not thoroughly been analyzed from a human rights context. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shanghai, China, used drones to enforce strict quarantining rules which was thought by many to be a violation of privacy. In Iran, it has been proposed that drones and AI together could identify women that do not follow mandatory hijab dress codes. These applications are unavoidable but in small number compared to the multitude of new possibilities that drones have already offered societies around the globe; yet these applications still do exist and should be considered before research improving the technology is released.
With the Human Rights Summer Research Grant, I traveled to Singapore, a smart country that uses drones on the daily in government, industry, and recreation. I was able to speak to multiple drone engineers and users to hear their thoughts on how my new research could benefit the standard of living or working in Singapore and ways it may be misused.
23 hours of travel later, I landed in Singapore and met with Rude Lee from Flyht Studios, a photography and documentary start-up that uses drones to capture high-altitude shots. Lee and I got to fly some drones around for a few hours and then talk about the current state of drone capabilities. Lee believes that without UAVs, his start-up could not have the competitive edge that it has today. The drones that they use have been able to capture footage of endangered animals, landscapes, and urban infrastructure that are used in educational documentaries and journals. It is clear to Lee that the drone research I do is making his business possible and has the potential to bring to light many issues in and around Singapore.
Like all technology, Lee also brings up the point that Singapore regulates drones excessively. As such, the small country has been able to mitigate harmful uses of drones including instating no-fly zones and banning surveillance of private property to enforce privacy rights. While drone start-ups in Singapore find these regulations cumbersome, even Lee can admit that they are exactly why Singapore is a leader in drone technology.
During my trip, I used photography to capture moments of drone usage and other innovative technology that I couldn’t find in my everyday life in North Carolina. I found hotel robots, an advanced metro system, and contactless pay even in hawker centers (low-cost food stalls that locals often visit). I wanted to investigate the implication of every one of these innovations, but sticking to my plan, I met with other leaders in the UAV industry including Zhansaya Orazbekova from Infinium Robotics.
Experience 2: Research Conference
When my research is fully published, my advisors and teammates will be traveling to present in a different country. This research is currently focused on designing a control feedback system for the six movements of a quadcopter and maximizing its ability to withstand harsh conditions and fit into tight spaces.
The location of the conference and the details of the results will be posted here when the time comes.
