Rethinking farms and food in the AI age
Tomorrow鈥檚 farmlands will look very similar to those of today. Tomorrow鈥檚聽farmers, though, will look quite different.
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping agriculture with innovations like driverless tractors, robotic seed-planters, and drone crop sprayers. Such inventions are driving a competition to develop the first聽farm聽with聽equipment that is fully autonomous, perhaps within five years.
This shift toward automation could easily cause worry among those skeptical of technologies with little human touch and especially among those whose jobs get plowed under. AI, in fact, could radically change the current model of聽farm聽ownership.聽Farmers聽may, for example, lease their equipment because of the high cost of new machines. Manufacturers, meanwhile, will want to track the data of their equipment to both refine their inventions and keep聽farmers聽as dependent customers. This raises a question: If data-driven companies take over much of the actual agricultural work, will traditional聽farmers聽be a thing of the past? And how will today鈥檚 food consumers relate to聽farming聽by big data?
There鈥檚 reason not to despair. Technological innovation in agriculture solves numerous problems. AI聽farming聽promises fewer greenhouse gas emissions and higher efficiency 鈥� leading to more, healthier crops. Even though it will likely displace workers, there is already a notable skills gap in the agricultural equipment industry. Further development may open up more jobs and ease the load on overburdened聽farmers. Thus, when a team of engineers launched what they said was the world鈥檚 first autonomous tractor in Britain two years ago, many聽farmers聽applauded.
In general, misuse of data by big data firms has given the public cause to question large corporations. Agriculture is no exception. Yet the shift toward high-tech聽farming聽comes at a time of higher public awareness. Regulation may not yet be robust, but it鈥檚 catching up. Those officials responsible for oversight 鈥� in the U.S. and abroad 鈥� must require a careful, responsible approach from tech companies. AI聽farming聽is no longer the Wild West of change, but it鈥檚 not the city quite yet.
Past disruption in other industries provides examples for how to manage this change. Government, consumers, and corporations can ask what kind of agricultural world they want to live in, even before there is a clear view of tech鈥檚 consequences. Even with the introduction of bigger, more central聽farming聽methods, some聽farmers聽are moving in the other direction. A recent Monitor article documented the rise in silvopasture, an age-old聽farming聽method that manages grazing, livestock聽farming, and tree cultivation, which is ranked as the world鈥檚 ninth most impactful climate change solution. It represents movement toward the local, to more responsible, personal relationships with the land on which聽farmers聽rely. It also signals that, while the agricultural industry as a whole may become more corporate, what will remain are聽farmers聽who still tend the earth and reap its fruits in return.
