Artificial Intelligence: Farming

Artificial Intelligence has begun to play an effective role in monitoring crops and soil conditions, along with controlling pests and organising data. With the use of advanced technology, humans may be able to begin growing food in urban areas, greatly decreasing the current rate of deforestation. In urban cities, especially those found in the Americas, food production will become an easier feat to complete. Artificial intelligence can even be used on-field to reduce and highlight the need for chemicals, such as herbicides, in the farming process.

Agriculture is directly impacted by the worsening of the impacts of climate change. A reduction in the production of food has placed many urban cities, and developing countries at risk. Food insecurity has now become a cause for concern. As sea levels rise, coastal crops become even more unreliable for suitable crop yields. However, there have been many improvements and creations in artificial intelligence that may benefit the farming sector, in the near future, if similar models are adapted in technology on a worldwide basis.

According to The Conservation Foundation, certain applications are able to identify nutrient deficiencies in soil, and rely on image recognition-based technology. Artificial intelligence has even been used for pest and disease control, where satellite images and historical data are compared. In North America, where water can be a scarce resource: technology has recently started to be used in ensuring that crop yields are given the ideal amount of water, without said water being wasted. These are just some of the ways in which artificial intelligence has played a role in improving the efficiency of farming!

Artificial intelligence can even be used in indoor farms. By creating a database of the crops planted in a certain area, AI can collect data and run algorithms and applications that process the needs of each crop. It can even play a role in creating more sustainable farming schedules, and detecting diseases found within the crops!

There are still drawbacks to the increased usage of artificial intelligence. Training a single unit of AI releases about 500% of the carbon emissions that a car would release in its lifetime. Developing countries may also find it troublesome to find experts in the technology used, in order to both train the artificial intelligence, and gain access to the data it collects—which is generally accessed through internet connection. Although AI may seem promising in the scope of future responses to challenges in agriculture, we must make sure that this technology is used in moderation.