Pigs, Cows and Cockroaches in Artificial Intelligence Animal Farm
Agriculture is becoming a data-centric business driven by artificial intelligence. Big tech companies in China are using neural network-powered computer vision, wearables and predictive analytics algorithms to reimagine pig, chicken, cow, goose and cockroach farming.
The South China Morning Post reported that Good Doctor Pharmaceuticals uses artificial intelligence to breed up to 6 billion cockroaches a year in southeastern China's Sichuan province for medical use. The operation, which has generated $ 684 million in revenue, is powered by AI algorithms that collect and analyze up to 80 data metrics to meet the roaches' needs for humidity, temperature and food. AI is also keenly monitoring and stimulating the growth and reproduction rates of cockroaches.
Over the past year, Sichuan pig farmer Dekang Group and pig feed supplier Tekun Group have been working with Alibaba Cloud. By 2020 , Dekang Group will raise 10 million pigs annually. AI-powered computer vision and speech recognition systems can identify pigs by numbers tattooed on their flanks and monitor vulnerable piglets for screams of pain.
Alibaba rival JD.com has also launched an AI-powered chicken raising project, with each chicken wearing a fitness tracker around its ankle. JD.com said it would buy the birds back at three times the price once they walked a million steps. JD Finance CEO Wang Shengqiang said the company wanted to rebuild the entire farmhouse infrastructure to monitor food intake, defecation and other physiological conditions.
On April Fool's Day, Tencent poked fun at the trend by announcing the " grand opening " of what it said was a goose farm in the mountains of Guizhou. In Chinese, "鹅" (鹅) differs by one Chinese character from Tencent's flagship mascot, Penguin (幼鹅). A Tencent spokesperson said the company is launching a pilot goose raising project to explore the potential of " agriculture + artificial intelligence + Internet smart retail " . The Guizhou operation will be located in excavated caves and start with 5,000 geese before expanding to 200,000 , the company said . To further play with Chinese character puns, Tencent promised netizens that it is considering adding swan (鹅鹅) and, of course, penguin (penguin).
Tencent's so-called April Fool's Day farmhouse and production plan.
With more and more technology companies getting on board, artificial intelligence is undoubtedly transforming the livestock industry. Animal husbandry is no longer a difficult job plagued by hygiene problems. Artificial intelligence may offer a healthier and sustainable solution to this inevitable mass-production trend.
In Japan, Osaka University's smart dairy farming system can detect infectious viral diseases in livestock with an accuracy rate of up to 99% . The system is used in barns equipped with automated milking machines and feeding robots, and some Japanese dairy farms are using it and wearable devices to fine-tune milking and feeding and provide real-time updates.
Meanwhile, computer vision or data processing software portals are just small nodes in a larger IoT transformation of food production. While farmers may initially be skeptical of all these new cameras, smart bracelets, and smartphone apps, the AI farming wave is unlikely to die down, and instead it could revolutionize farming.