By Staff Reports
(DGIwire) — For those who saw the movie AI: Artificial Intelligence, the term might conjure up the little android played by Haley Joel Osment who longs to be real. Or we might think of I, Robot, in which a future generation of humanoid machines rebels. It turns out, though, that AI isn’t relegated to some future time. It’s already here and is playing an expanding role in virtually every area of our lives. Increasingly, companies and organizations seeking to improve efficiency and productivity are relying on AI.
In the ongoing search for ways to maximize performance, breakthroughs are happening at a breakneck pace. Recently, Colin Lewis, an independent consultant for services in automation, robotics and AI, wrote on the Harvard Business Review website about evaluating the R&D trends among big tech companies. He concluded it’s only a matter of time before virtual assistants start to revamp our daily routines. Lewis went on to explain how AI uses software programs to teach itself how to operate by observing and learning from the past, acting in the present and anticipating the future. All of this suggests to Lewis that today’s AI breakthroughs are tomorrow’s breakthroughs in productivity.
Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google and co-author of a book on AI, says these systems will free us of many small burdens, including errands, to-do lists and assorted monitoring tasks that distract us. By relying on these integrated systems, we’ll be able to use our time more effectively each day.
What used to seem like science fiction might have become the norm today, but there are always surprises. One company is applying AI in an even more innovative way. Stevia First Corp. is an agricultural biotechnology company using a special growing and fermentation process to improve farming and processing methods for the stevia plant.
Recently, Stevia First began using applied AI algorithms and interfacing them with commonly utilized life sciences tools such as industrial process simulation software, laboratory automation setups and bioreactor control systems. It believes these algorithms will be applicable to a range of related high-value commercial processes. In fact, the company is developing a generalized AI platform to address diverse challenges in other industries beyond life sciences. Stevia First’s R&D team can then leverage this software platform to pursue commercial applications far beyond stevia production and even the food and beverage industry.
Robert Brooke, Stevia First’s CEO, says, “We’ve received incredible feedback on our progress in stevia production. We are now using ‘narrow AI’ to strengthen our stevia program, and then we plan to explore the vast commercial potential of an AI platform that can be fully applied to the life sciences. This is an extremely exciting opportunity for us, and offers huge potential for future growth as a complete industry sector in itself.”