In this special feature, the World Economic Forum’s Mark Eliot Caine describes the ways “AI for Good” could improve the agricultural industry, feed the hungry, curb pollution, and better protect the planet.
- AI startups are using massive datasets to train new algorithms that could make traditional farms more efficient and better-performing. This includes Tel Aviv-based Prospera, which has been amassing 50 million data points daily from across 4,700 farming fields. The firm uses AI to analyse the data and identify potential disease and pest outbreaks, plus find new ways to boost agricultural yields.
- Another example is startups using AR technology in indoor farming. By using computer vision and algorithms, they can find the right balance of nutrients and boost their yields. An example is Robotics company Root AI, which developed an AI-enhanced crop-picking robot. (Note: The firm raised new funding with participation from investors Rob May of PJC, who is the writer of our Sunday AI newsletter, and Inside.com founder Jason Calacanis, which did not influence this coverage.) The company’s flagship robot is Virgo, which can pick tomatoes, berries, and other specialty crops in greenhouses using specialised grippers that apply the right amount of pressure. It uses sensors and AI, like computer vision, to gauge the crops’ ripeness and location. Caine notes that the most advanced AI operations are believed to generate more than 20 times more food per acre than traditional fields, as well as use up to 90% less water.
- AI can also help curb the effects of industrial meat production. For example, Chile-based NotCo and Brazil-based Fazenda Futuro created AI tools that analyse plant data and better replicate real meat in plant-based alternatives. Refrigerated plant-based meat sales have increased by 125% in the last two years. Since meat production generates nearly half of all global agricultural emissions, finding better-tasting alternatives using AI could result in major environmental benefits.
- Achieving these goals will still require a lot of commitments, policies, and oversight from governments and corporations. The World Economic Forum recently partnered with India and the state of Telangana to find high-value use cases for AI in agriculture, as well as develop more innovations and roll them out into the real world. “We will need to use every tool at our disposal,” Caine concludes, “and with AI becoming more powerful every day we should encourage more innovators and entrepreneurs to focus on new ways to use this technology to address our biggest societal challenges.”
