Drone Observatory wins the New Media film festival STEAM award in LA
Jeni Lee and Dr Thao Phan's documentary 'AI in the street' wins STEAM award at New Media Film Festival in LA.
AI in the Street: Drone Observatory documents the rise of Logan, Queensland—now dubbed the “drone delivery capital of the world”—as a live testing ground for autonomous drone delivery services. Since 2019, Logan residents have participated in delivery trials run by Wing Aviation, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., where drones drop off everything from coffee to groceries in as little as three minutes.
Created by Dr Thao Phan and filmmaker Jeni Lee from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at Monash University, the film moves beyond the technology to explore the lived experience of those beneath it. Through candid interviews with local residents and small business owners, the film surfaces the complex mix of convenience, unease, and ethical questions that come with being at the frontline of big tech experimentation.