The following is a short excerpt from the article which was originally published on Medium for Journey Foods in January 2019. The article was featured in Data Driven Investor, a Medium publication. To read the full article, click here.
In 31 years, the world’s population is set to hit 9 billion. There are over 200,000 edible plant species, but most humans only routinely consume 200 of them. On top of all this, the world is currently facing a $600 billion nutrient access problem that is partially due to the fact that, in recent years, our produce has been testing with as much as 50% fewer nutrients than just decades ago. The way we do food needs to change, and AI is the solution.
When the average person thinks about ‘AI’, or artificial intelligence, certain themes or topics often come to mind. Sophia the robot. Alex Garland’s 2014 box office hit Ex-Machina. Robots taking our jobs and the fear that they will one day take over the world. This view is not only narrow-minded but also fails to acknowledge all the good AI can and is already doing for people all over the world — especially in the food space. The truth is, AI, when used for good, isn’t scary and it’s not at all what you think is. And most importantly, AI has applications that far exceed the confines of real, literary, and cinematic robots.