By Mzee Kambui, October 16, 2026

Winter Park, FL; You may have seen past movies where robots programmed with artificial intelligence have played the role of killer bots, to entire AI systems taking over the world completely. Those past sci-fi films and shows are not so science fiction in 2026, the war in Ukraine with Russia has ushered in a new type of warfare with the use of drones, FPV drones are the most commonly used since the war began in 2022.

The use of drone warfare has evolved since then, now drones equipped with AI technology are being used by both Ukraine and Russia, according to the NPR “A Ukrainian company that got rich making smartphone-controlled cameras to watch pets at home now outfits first-person-view drones with an image recognition system powered by artificial intelligence”. Joanna Kakissis(2026)NPR,Both Russia and Ukraine are using AI-powered drones on the battlefield.NPR.ORG

With this kind of new warfare already in use what are the dangers and possible consequences of using AI technology with drones and military hardware. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has documented cases of FPV operators targeting civilians in vehicles, on bicycles, and in ambulances, raising serious concerns regarding distinction and potential war crimes. cove.army.gov

Here are the dangers: AI targeting systems, such as automated identification software can suffer from poor data quality, bias, or misinterpretation, leading to high error rates and accidental civilian casualties.

Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) and drone swarms struggle to consistently uphold foundational laws of war, such as the principles of distinction (separating combatants from civilians) and proportionality (balancing military gain against civilian harm)unric.org

Because AI-driven systems and autonomous drones operate at machine speed, conflicts can escalate faster than human commanders can comprehend or intervene, increasing the risk of uncontrolled spirals into full-scale war.DW News

Low-cost, commercially available drones can be easily adapted with basic AI or explosives, making lethal autonomous tech accessible to non-state groups, cartels, or insurgencies.justsecurity.org

These are only a few of many warnings of the dangers of AI and drones, with most of them sounding like something from a blockbuster hollywood thriller, however these are real warnings and the consequences are as well. To many the reality of all out warfare is closer than ever, with civil unrest unfolding in France the war in both the Middle-East and Ukraine what is the future going to unfold as these technologies evolve.

Emry Cruz a Computer Science student and president of the Drone Innovation Club at Full Sail University stated

” The first known use of quadcopter drones for warfare was by the terrorist group ISIS”,

“There are many countermeasures that can be used against drone attacks”

while the US Air Force and NAVY has been using large drones the size of small cars, according to airandspace.si.edu,”The U.S. military drone program evolved from World War I remote-controlled flying bombs and World War II target drones into a major surveillance and strike force”.

Full Sail University is one of six institutions in the country that have drone centers, with Full Sail University becoming the newest with a state of the art drone center for future drone operators.