It’s the best time of the year for tech lovers such as myself. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) of 2020 just occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada, where a multitude of fascinating and innovative technologies were showcased to the public, such as the TCL foldable phone and Samsung’s Neon project in which video chat bots are created to behave like humans. To me, one of the most intriguing parts of the conference was the introduction of a drone startup that would deliver food directly to your doorstep.

Manna is an Irish drone startup planning to deliver food directly to you. They recently collaborated with a Qualcomm-backed company, Cubic Telecom, to make the start-up’s dream become a reality. How Manna plans to accomplish  this seems relatively straightforward — connecting each drone with a 5G network so they can be tracked and controlled by Manna. They have already partnered with Flipdish, a company that operates an online delivery platform used by many restaurants. In the future, if one orders through Flipdish, a Manna drone with deliver your order.

Autonomously piloted drones may be the future of food deliveries; in order for that to happen, the technology needs to be tested thoroughly. Currently, they are testing these drones in Pontypool, Wales, because of Europe’s more accommodating regulations, and plan to expand testing to other sites across Ireland and the UK by the third quarter of this year. 

As much as I would love for my food to be delivered just minutes after ordering, I cannot get past other issues with this idea such as privacy and safety, let alone regulatory barriers! Even though this technology may be implemented in the near future within Europe, I have a hard time believing it will be popularized in the United States any time soon and to be perfectly honest, I think that’s for the better. The world is not ready to face the ramifications of underdeveloped technologies, especially ones that are so under-regulated. The use of autonomous drones can be dangerous if they are not tested enough. I don’t know about you, but I would have a problem leaving my food deliveries to a drone in this day and age.