The future of cultivation might not be as far away as some would expect. Specifically with regards to the cannabis industry, the level of technology deployed in large-scale operations surely is particularly advanced. This is because, just like in any other horticultural business, efficiency is the key to running a profitable and successful operation. Even more so when it comes to growing cannabis at scale, as the operational costs tend to be higher than for any other type of commercial crop. This is why it is of the utmost importance to rely on solutions that can take human error out of the equation. One of these solutions is AI.
AI Technology
iUNU is an industrial computer vision company that has developed an AI that makes any horticulture operations predictable and demand-based. “There are many facets of AI technology that benefit the horticultural business,” Adam Greenberg, iUNU CEO, explains. “Artificial intelligence encompasses multiple types of tech. Deep learning is only one of the elements that make this technology particularly helpful for greenhouse and indoor growers. AI allows for a more granular analysis over larger areas of a grow, which ensures a higher level of understanding of what is happening within said grow.”
Adam Greenberg, iUNU CEO
According to Adam, through the use of AI in these operations, growers can predict every small change in the growing environment. “The point of using such a technology is to come up with specific SOPs that would address this or that issue,” he points out. “SOPs can indeed be triggered as a result of AI. Our system focuses on what needs a grower’s attention, and thus one can draw their SOPs on that.”
Decoupling the grower
The iUNU system offers a centralized management that allows the decoupling of the grower. “Bluntly put, a grower could be in multiple greenhouses at the same time,” Adam remarks. “As the industry is going towards commodification and consolidation, we want to empower large-scale growers and allow them to thrive in such a scenario.” This is exactly the reason why it is crucial that grow processes are repeatable and scalable. “The idea of what is the most suitable thing to do depends on the scale. By using our AI, it is possible to predict what an operation is going to be and align the SOPs with that. This is especially important for medical cannabis growers. However, we also have some customers that tackle the recreational market.”
Thus, AI represents a technology that helps to better understand the smallest details in any horticulture operation, by storing a lot of knowledge which then can be more easily analyzed by a grower. “This does not mean that growers will become obsolete,” Adam points out. “This just means that growers will become more specialized and more proactive. They will base their operations and their processes on a granular analysis of the growing environment, thus allowing them to address potential critical issues and to repeat processes in a more precise and efficient way.”
AI to keep improving the industry
This aspect becomes particularly important for the future of the cannabis industry, as, according to Adam, GMP standards will become increasingly relevant. “I think that the whole industry needs to follow the standards of GMP,” he says. “We need the industry to go to that direction. This is why it is crucial that, as one scales up, they have to use a tool that would help them with that. Without the use of an AI, growers are only relying on their eyes and on ‘subjective’ parameters. Needless to say, it is extremely hard to have thorough control with this method only. Now, they have the possibility to only rely on software that stores information and come up with potential solutions to address that. AI is going to continuously improve and help the industry, thus making it very methodical and predictable, giving peace of mind to growers and letting them focus on what needs to be done next.”
For more information:
iUNU
Carl Silverberg
Sr. VP Outreach & Public Affairs
202 320 9797
[email protected]
iunu.com