Halle Zander, NPR; Testing the new generation of AI-enabled fire-extinguishing drones
"On a rare overcast day in late summer, red-and-white fire trucks pepper a grassy strip of land in the mountains of western Colorado.
A persistent buzzing rises and falls as several uniformed staff from the Aspen Fire Protection District huddle around an iPad, watching one of their volunteer firefighters control a massive drone.
This first-of-its-kind machine looks like a giant bug. Black and white with propellers attached to four large arms, it's about 10 by 12 feet wide — roughly the size of a small U-Haul trailer.
While firefighters have used drones to monitor wildfires for decades, this new product could use AI to help extinguish fires."
