“If the reindeer are also having to self-isolate, then the drones will be most useful this year,” says Professor Gopal Ramchurn, Director of the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub. “Santa may need about a million drones to do this, with some bigger ones transporting the gifts from the North Pole, others bringing them to homes, and even smaller ones taking them down the chimney to living rooms.”