S5 Ep32: Embracing AI & Machine Learning technologies in Ag, with Dr Tom Lee

Artificial intelligence is now starting to creep into the Australian red meat supply chain, whether it is accurately counting sheep or cattle off a truck into a meatworks holding yard, or picking the shape of tri-tips from a range of primals passing down a processing conveyor belt and packing them in a carton. In today’s Weekly Grill podcast, host Kerry Lonergan chews the fat with Dr Tom Lee from the University of Technology, Sydney. Tom classifies himself as a ‘middle man’ between AI technology developers/designers and potential end-users like farmers and meat processors. Haw far has AI progressed in ag? While certain early-adopters and innovator farmers are on the front foot, uptake is still pretty niche in ag, Tom says, but things are changing rapidly. But right now, for the bulk of farmers, AI is still something they are hearing about, rather than applying. He says it’s important to make a distinction between AI and a second second technology term, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). “People think AI will eventually mimic a human being, if we keep investing in it – but that’s AGI, not AI,” he said. “AI is great at playing a game of chess – solving ‘small world things’ where all the inputs are known, and it can work through all the permutations, using massive amounts of data in really powerful ways – but it can’t do the things that a human mind can do.”   The Weekly Grill is brought to listeners by Rhinogard and Bovi-Shield MH-One – the One Shot, One Spray, One Time BRD Vaccines by Zoetis.