Are these like military grade aerial drones or something? The one shown in the picture, and those many use to do prelim roof inspections, fly far too low - seems it would be encroachment of owner's property rights, no?
The author is cagey about the extent of the moss growth. He brings up that "A small amount is largely harmless", but for whatever reason refuses to connect either parts of statement (ie. "small amount" or "largely harmless) to his roof specifically. The only thing we know about his roof is that "the moss was dying". My totally unfounded speculation is that the moss growth was actually pretty bad, but he didn't want that to get in the way of his 1500 word article about how companies are using AI to oppress consumers.
A commercial pilot's license requires 1500 hours of flight time under one's belt. The company paid them a small sum to strap a camera to their planes and fly certain routes. New pilots make some extra cash and the company gets cheap shots.
It's possible the company can however rent hours in the plane at below market costs (a friend did something like this years ago while getting his helicopter license)
Looks like a CPL only requires 250 hours of flight time per the FCC, and it's airlines that demand additional time.
https://www.faa.gov/faq/how-do-i-get-commercial-pilot-licens...