manage complaints and citizen interactions;
tools can also be set to flag legislative actions
that bear on local tasks
The watchword of CES this year is AI, and the emerging role that artificial intelligence is taking in sectors ranging from healthcare to agriculture to security to retail management. I found sessions focusing on the intersection of AI and agriculture particularly interesting as well as timely, given the recent release of the latest FCC Precision Ag Task Force report (full disclosure: I chaired the Jobs and Adoption Working Group for the past year, a cap to five years working with the PATF, so I am bit biased on what is “interesting”). The PATF report dives into the role of technology for ag production, focusing not only on expected discussions of decreased inputs and increased productivity, but also automation and its follow-on issues. By way of example, will automation solve the problem of human labor shortages, or will automation reduce job opportunities in the sector (there are fair arguments that automation can help mitigate human labor shortages while also triggering demand for high-skill jobs in ag regions – see the report for more)?
But what role does AI, as opposed to more general “tech,” have in farming? We have discussed broadband-enabled cloud-based imaging systems that support “see and spray” solutions. These are applications that enable cameras to image sprouts and compare those images to thousands of others in a cloud-based library to determine whether the growth is friend or foe before applying fertilizer or herbicide accordingly, often with tolerances of mere centimeters. But AI can do even more, and farmers at CES described how their work is ripe for AI.
but having seen these, I might be changing my mind.
An olive and grape farmer explained that all farms, no matter the size or crop, start with a work order: Plant X on Y acres. But that order then gets broken down into jobs – part of the acreage might be planted with strain A of seed, while another part will be planted with a different strain. And soil conditions at each field will dictate irrigation and chemical application. And while the farmer ultimately controls the “Go” button on those inputs, critical decisions are still by weather and other variables that are beyond the farmer’s control. A farmer who presented to the PATF explained, “The Lord only blesses a farmer with 30 or 40 years, and we can only try things one season at a time.”
There is cab, but it can operate without anyone inside.
And, yes, the track is as tall as the man standing in front of it.
Total weight depends on equipment, but base machines weights are
about 50,000 lbs. and overall height is about 12 feet.
AI helps the farmer with those seasonal business decisions. The premise of AI is that it does not replace human intelligence, but rather that it enables the assimilation and analysis of data at a volume and rate larger and faster than humanly possible. For farmers, this means the ability to adapt rapidly to changing inputs. These processes contemplate the use of sensors and robots to gather data which can adjust recommendations according not only to the crop that is grown, but also for the purposes for which it is grown. Appearances matter for apples intended for a grocer’s bin, but less so (if at all) when grown for juice. And that is where AI can take the stage not as a hero but as an adviser who can help guide rapid decisions that contemplate a farm in all of its complexity.
In the end, AI does not replace the farmer; it helps the farmer. Nevertheless, AI will represent a significant shift for many farmers, and the future of ag (and healthcare, and other sectors on display at CES) will likely be shaped by the increasing partnership between human expertise and artificial intelligence.
On deck: A Visitor’s View of CES