I live on a farm. Why would a city-tech-boy want to live a rural lifestyle? Well, farmers and independent workers have a lot in common. Besides proficiently mastering horse *manure on a daily basis, farmers and iWorkers are prolific problem-solvers. At work I'm concerned about the health of our cloud servers and delivering great solutions, at home I'm concerned about about the health of our animals and how to best care for them. Artificial Intelligence helps us monitor our computer systems, how can it work on the farm?
AI has been helping agriculture for quite some time https://tinyurl.com/y3wcodab. From boosting crop yields to solving environment challenges there's no better time for artificial intelligence to have a major role in agriculture. On my farm I have a menagerie that needs constant care:
Resident Creatures
13 Goats : Einstein, Mabel, Jude, Rosie, Poe, Titus, Stashu, Frannie, Lucy, Richard, Maisie, Maggy & Dottie
2 Horses: Coda & Cadence
1 donkey: Cisco
4 Dogs: Pavel, Misha, Katya & Sasha
Countless ducks and chickens named after Disney Princesses & Gilmore Girls
1 lazy cat - Nala
I have cameras installed so that I can personally monitor them, but it would be helpful to use the technology in a manner that would continuously track each animal’s movements. In the field, at the water-trough and feeding areas I want Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to determine if an animal’s behavior is changing based on interaction with other animals, the weather, and anything else AI decides is important. All by itself, no input from me, letting me know things about my animals that I wouldn’t have picked up on my own, like a chicken who has gone broody, a goat who has stopped interacting with his peers, or a horse who is having digestive problems
Applying such a use-case is very doable, the technology exists today and AI will learn and let me know what I need to do or, in the future, even take corrective action itself, although I don't know of an AI robot that will survive the wrath of a territorial donkey.
Lesson learned? We iWorkers need to leverage technology every day to create new value and productivity. Nothing beats an old-fashioned Independent Worker lifestyle!
Cheers, PCz
About: Paul Czarnik problem-solves with code.
Paul is iWorker CTO where he focuses on developing solutions for Independent Workers. Paul served as Compuware CTO, using his technical expertise for product development, software excellence, M&A due-diligence, and Compuware Ventures investments. Paul lives on a 'connected farm' in Ortonville, Michigan.
