The Saviors of the Food Industry

12

October

2022

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For as long as I can remember, the food industry is dealing with food waste reduction. In today’s world, where everything has to be more efficient and sustainable, the food industry is still not where it is supposed to be. However, with the rise of new technologies like AI, Machine Learning, and Robotics, the food industry has a somewhat brighter future. From the beginning of the supply chain their predictive powers, advanced data analytics, and automatization capabilities could have a meaningful impact. 

Consider the current nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands, where the Dutch Government are in a fierce debate with farmers because they want to shut down big animal farms to reduce nitrogen emissions (Stokstad E, 2019). Although the problem in the Netherlands seems very country specific, there is a more fundamental problem going on behind it. Everywhere in the world, from agricultural labor shortages and immense amounts of food waste to actual farm shutdowns, the industry is in desperate need for new technologies. 

SomaDetect is a great example of a company that uses new technologies to transform the food industry. It uses optical sensors and deep learning algorithms to provide dairy farmers with real-time information about herd health and milk quality (SomaDetect, 2022). Better management as a result would lead to less need of cows and thus lower greenhouse gas emissions. Next to this, the aforementioned labor shortages can be partially offset by introducing farm robotics and automation. For example, Abundant Robotics is a company that developed a robot that can scan apples and use deep learning to determine when they’re ripe for picking (Abundant Robots, 2022). Also, established companies like John Deer have significantly enhanced their technologies by providing farmers with automated tractors implemented with AI technologies that drastically enhances efficiency and provides invaluable data.

All in all, the food industry faces major challenges, but there is no loss in hope. A bright front of innovate companies are ready to face these challenges, but will they succeed?

Do you think the food industry will be largely taken over by technology and automation for example?

Abundant robots – a new era of automation for fruit harvesting. WAX. (2022). Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://waxinvest.com/projects/abundant-robots/ 

Stokstad, E. (2019, December 6). Nitrogen crisis threatens Dutch environment—and economy. Science . Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.366.6470.1180 

SomaDetect. SomaDetect. (2022). Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://somadetect.com/ 

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AI in Healthcare

15

September

2022

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The problem that often comes to mind when reading an article about AI is what implications for the human workforce it will have. Will AI take over entire jobs such that workers will be put out of their job? Will AI outcompete men and women because it is more efficient and less costly? These are extremes that are realistic scenario’s when looking at the current speed of development of AI in combination with automatization and robotics. Obviously, there are substantial differences between different industries, but it is important to consider these future implications and how they might form a danger soon.

What I find interesting are the possibilities that are resulting from considering dangers like this. Being conscious lets some of the worlds brightest come up with the most creative solutions for industries where it is needed the most. 

One of those industries is the healthcare industry. According to the WHO (2022), there will be a shortfall of approximately 15 million health workers by 2030. AI is already contributing heavily to increasing healthcare levels all over the world. It can mine and process human data far more quickly than humans themselves such that existent diseases can be found, or new ones even discovered. As AI becomes more developed and more intelligence, the prospects for the future of healthcare is increasing. For example, think about the time being saved if most of all clinical paperwork was done by AI. This would allow doctors to focus on people rather than on paperwork. Also, think about the increase in machine accuracy as AI is recognizing patterns more accurately and can therefore make predictions also significantly more accurate than humans. These are just two examples of the endless possibilities that AI can provide for the healthcare industry. 

In my view, the healthcare industry is the industry that will undergo the most positive change as the result of AI implementation. I am therefore extremely curious to what AI holds for the future of the healthcare industry. 

What do you think about the future of healthcare with regards to AI? Do you think there is a difference with other industries in terms of how important AI technologies can be?

References;

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Health workforce. World Health Organization. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-workforce#tab=tab_1 

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