Once a myth, artificial intelligence is now omnipresent in our daily lives and even at the heart of our professional activities. Agriculture is no exception to this phenomenon, and it’s probably for the best!
Agriculture has been quick to embrace the Artificial Intelligence revolution, which offers a host of new opportunities. After years of accumulating an astronomical quantity of figures, data that we don’t know what to do with, AI has come up with an answer. We now have the power of this tool to translate this mass of data into decision-making tools. It’s a new revolution that’s already delivering economic and environmental benefits, as well as making life easier for farmers.
In the daily lives of farmers
One of the first uses of AI is now recognised and widely deployed. It uses satellite images or, more recently, images captured by drones to analyse the needs of the land. Biomass calculation, disease detection, and much more information are provided to help farmers make decisions. Combine these images with sensors in the soil, and the data is staggering. But there’s nothing insurmountable about it for an AI. It exploits, links and translates this data to produce simplified data and, above all, relevant decision-making tools for the farmer.
On-board AI
Artificial Intelligence can go even further and transmit this information directly to the tractors. Not only can these tractors drive themselves autonomously, coordinating the whole fleet on the same plot of land, but they can also adapt their work to the needs of the soil. Dose modulation is perhaps the best-known use of artificial intelligence in agriculture. It brings both economic and environmental benefits by applying the right dose in the right place to meet the precise needs of the plant and the soil.
Livestock farming also affected
Farmers are also using AI. Some milking robots, concentrates of technology, are equipped with AI. Artificial Intelligence will collect images of the udder to improve claw attachment. In this way, the robot optimises the milking rate, performance and health of the cows. Farmers also have a wider arsenal of tools at their disposal to improve animal comfort. With the help of AI video analysis, they can now better understand cow behaviour and act accordingly.
The start of a new agriculture
Artificial Intelligence is becoming a real advisor for farmers. It provides the keys to acting quickly and effectively on the basis of large quantities of translated data. But it does not take the decision-making or responsibility away from farmers. AI remains a tool that helps but does not replace the farmer or the human being. It provides additional information, supports decision-making through its recommendations, translates data into understandable and usable indicators, and acts according to instructions. And AI is still in its infancy. As in communications, Artificial Intelligence is a new resource, but it does not replace the human being. It can produce images, videos and ideas. But these remain empty or even erroneous without the contribution of a human mind. Recent advances in this technology, as demonstrated by ChatGPT and Gemini, show that there is enormous scope for progress. The amount of data to be discovered, combined and translated to find new indicators and new uses seems infinite. And that’s just as well, for agriculture, farmers and society as a whole.
Sources
– SKYFLD
– BouMatic
– Pleinchamp: can artificial intelligence replace the farm adviser?
– Pleinchamp: AI and agriculture for better or for worse