AI for Agriculture: ‘Godsend’ or ‘God Help Us?’
July 3, 2023 For the past several months now, one topic has dominated virtually every conversation I’ve had with folks in the agricultural industry: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Whereas talking about the weather or recent vacations was typically the norm, “what do you think about AI?” has become the new “go-to” question I get asked.
To the industry friends who’ve asked me this question, my answer is always the same – I really don’t know yet. On one hand, as a long-time fan of science fiction stories and films, the creation and mainstreaming of AI into everyday life scares me to death. There have been literally thousands of examples of AI in fiction since the turn of the century (beginning with the Czech play “R.U.R.” in 1920) to “The Matrix” movie franchise. In almost all these cases, the outlook for humans once AI becomes entrenched in the world is bleak.
On the other hand, AI is meant to serve as another in a long line of technology tools for agriculture to better itself. To witnesses of these types of systems in action, they offer enhanced speed of operation, product efficiencies, and to further the cause of sustainable agricultural practices as a result.
Take for example my own recent brush with AI in agriculture. On May 9, ag retailer MFA invited customers, media members, and other onlookers to a demonstration of the See & Spray technology equipped on one its John Deere sprayers. According to Steve Fairchild, Director of Communications for MFA, the company organized the event to illustrate just how these kinds of AI systems will impact the marketplace going forward.
“This system on the John Deere sprayer allows us to see the operational efficiencies that are possible using AI,” said Fairchild. “Operators can then utilize this data to make better decisions.”
Another speaker at this event was Chris Chinn, Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. “This is an amazing day, to be able to witness this technology at work,” said Chinn. “I think if I had told my grandparents about what we have here today, they wouldn’t believe it.”
And perhaps AI in agriculture will make fewer people nervous than in other parts of the world. Afterall, AI run agricultural equipment would be tasked with applying crop inputs to crop fields, not in publicly accessible places such as highways or cities. In addition, AI systems could collect and disseminate data in the field, offering ag retailers and their grower-customers actionable recommendations based upon these findings in seconds or hours vs. days or weeks.
Either way, AI in agriculture is coming quickly and in myriad ways. As one ag retailer told me recently about this technological movement: “The genie is out of bottle now; there’s no putting the cork back in!”
So, one way or another, we are all about to enter a brave new world. Hopefully, sticking with the genie analogy, the “wishes” we make as this technology becomes more widespread will be the correct ones.
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