--- title: Wanna be a scarecrow when you grow up? Sorry, drones are taking that job - The Hustle description: As AI draws more headlines, drones remain a hotbed of automation innovation. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1499765746-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2018202023drones.webp --- # Wanna be a scarecrow when you grow up? Sorry, drones are taking that job ![Ben Berkley](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Ben Berkley](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/ben-berkley) Published: June 02, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 AI may occupy a lot of space in our heads these days, but it can’t occupy our airspace — yet. ![Wanna be a scarecrow when you grow up? Sorry, drones are taking that job](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1499765746-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2018202023drones.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1499765746-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2018202023drones.webp) That domain belongs to another job-yoinking form of automation: drones. #### **Coming for scarecrows’ jobs…** … are drones that look like big birds, designed to scare off smaller birds. The Drone Bird Company [built a fleet of drones](https://www.axios.com/2023/05/16/bird-drone-hawks-lasers) resembling birds of prey, hoping their lifelike robo-hawks can help bird-tormented professionals — like farmers and airport managers — keep avian pests away from crops and airplane engines. - A German blueberry farmer who tested the drone birds saw crop loss decrease from ~50% to 5%. These “birds” may soon become hawkish in yet another way; the Dutch startup suggests military espionage as a possible application. #### **It’s not just scarecrows losing opportunities to drones** Ad-towing pilots could soon be unemployed if Sustainable Skylines’ drones [take over](https://www.flyingmag.com/startup-aims-to-replace-banner-towing-aircraft-with-drones/) the sky-advertising business as planned. There’s an environmental bent here — the Miami-based startup says its drones would reduce the banner-tugging industry’s carbon footprint by 90% — but this isn’t simply a feel-good story about the ozone; it’s a big business play in an aerial ad market estimated to be worth [$8.5B](https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/product/aerial-advertising-market/) by 2027. Sustainable Skylines will analyze its drones’ routes alongside cellphone data, solving a current pain point for sky-marketers — clarity on how many eyes might’ve seen their banners. Pilots, naturally, aren’t thrilled about losing a reliable way to accrue flight hours and score ~$50/hour. #### **Hey, drones replacing jobs isn’t all bad** The Indian government is testing drones for [blood bag delivery](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/gims-starts-drone-trials-for-blood-delivery/articleshow/100262133.cms), trying to improve timely delivery of lifesaving blood cells, plasma, and platelets to remote areas. 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Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ben Berkley", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/ben-berkley" }, "datePublished" : "2023-06-02T23:56:49.000Z", "headline" : "Wanna be a scarecrow when you grow up? 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