AI-Driven Safety and Security for UAVs: From Machine Learning to Large Language Models

Zheng Yang, Yuting Zhang, Jie Zeng, Yifan Yang, Yufei Jia, Hua Song, Tiejun Lv, Qian Sun, Jianping An

As unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications expand across logistics, agriculture, and emergency response, safety and security threats are becoming increasingly complex. Addressing these evolving threats, including physical safety and network security threats, requires continued advancement by integrating traditional artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), which contribute to significantly enhancing UAV safety and security. Large language models (LLMs), a cutting-edge trend in the AI field, are associated with strong capabilities for learning and adapting across various environments. Their emergence reflects a broader trend toward intelligent systems that may eventually demonstrate behavior comparable to human-level reasoning. This paper summarizes the typical safety and security threats affecting UAVs, reviews the progress of traditional AI technologies, as described in the literature, and identifies strategies for reducing the impact of such threats. It also highlights the limitations of traditional AI technologies and summarizes the current application status of LLMs in UAV safety and security. Finally, this paper discusses the challenges and future research directions for improving UAV safety and security with LLMs. By leveraging their advanced capabilities, LLMs offer potential benefits in critical domains such as urban air traffic management, precision agriculture, and emergency response, fostering transformative progress toward adaptive, reliable, and secure UAV systems that address modern operational complexities.