How Robotics and AI will Change Agriculture
Robotics and AI have already begun to shape humanity, and even one of man’s oldest industries, agriculture, is now being affected. What problems do farmers typically face, what robotic and AI solutions are currently under development, and how will they change agriculture in the future?
Of all the inventions and discoveries by man, agriculture was the most important of all. The invention of agriculture, whereby crops are planned, and animals are domesticated, meant that people could settle into strong communities, with well-defined borders that kept predators at bay. The creation of settlements also saw humans move away from their nomadic days, and this allowed for proper planning of food and supplies. The ability to store food also provided people with free time, and free time lead to thinking. Thinking lead to other discoveries, including metalworking, astronomy, and mathematics, and from there, the modern world was created. Agriculture is so vital for society to grow that most technological revolutions are as a result of a surplus of food. For example, the industrial revolution (which brought steam power), was only possible thanks to improvements in agriculture as well as ideal weather conditions in the UK.
The agriculture industry is faced with a wide range of problems, and yet it is amazing that the public never face most of these issues. To start, price volatility can cause issues with regards to profit margins, something that many farmers already struggle with to stay competitive. Secondly, agriculture practices are heavily dependent on weather conditions (a particularly dry season can kill off an entire crop). Thirdly, pests and disease can quickly rampage across whole lands, requiring the culling of crop and livestock.
While price volatility is more of an economic issue, environmental factors are a result of mother Earth’s mood and something that can be difficult to fight against. The mass use of pesticides can ensure that a crop remains undamaged by pests, but can also cause ecological harm by killing off useful insects such as bees, wasps, and spiders. Droughts can be fought off by watering, but the quantity of water used can be astronomical, and large portions of water can go into growing unwanted plants (such as weeds). Weeds can be removed using herbicides, but these again come with their faults. Some can be carcinogenic to life, while others may cause damage to the environment as they are washed into rivers and streams.
To make matters worse, increasing wages and living standards is increasingly making it harder to find workers for farms at profitable rates. While many argue that those working on farms should be paid decent wages, those same individuals would be upset to pay three times the amount on food than they already do. While one solution to ensuring fair practices is to accept that food should be more expensive than it currently is, another lies in the form of technology.
