Drone to carry humans!

[Warren Kawamoto]

Now you're seen it all.
Chinese company unveils human-carrying drone - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

[Noa Put]

They already exist, it's called a helicopter, also it says it can only fly 23 minutes at sea level, what if you live in an area that is located above or below sea level :)

[Brian Drysdale]

It's not a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle), but a multi rotor helicopter.

[Roger Van Duyn]

It may not be unmanned, but it doesn't have a pilot. Isn't the term "pilotless helicopter" and drone just splitting semantic hairs? Yeah, autopilot systems have been around a while, but there's still a human pilot aboard an aircraft carrying passengers, even a single human in the pilot's seat still needs a pilot's license doesn't he?

From the article:

"A passenger would have no controls as a backup, he said. In the event of a problem the company plans a remote control center that would take over the vehicle and ensure it lands safely, he said."

Doesn't that make it a drone, with NO human pilot? Earlier in the article it mentioned something about the passenger just punching in the destination...

That's scary. Like some of the driverless cars being tested with NO CONTROLS.

Artificial intelligence growing out of human stupidity leads to really complicated problems when they pop up unexpectedly. I used to see it when I worked in the lab.

Addition: The article mentioned the company is working on a plan if the passenger runs into a problem: "A passenger would have no controls as a backup, he said. In the event of a problem the company plans a remote control center that would take over the vehicle and ensure it lands safely, he said."

I wonder how long it would take to get through to a human being if the passenger calls from his cell phone. " Press One for English, Press Dos for Espanol...."