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Artificial Intelligence in Farming

Prof Raj Khosla of Kansas State University in the United States, who stressed that digital intelligence in farming was the need of the hour, said that a public-private partnership was essential for digital agriculture and that all farm operations could be digitised using GPS technology because precision input usage would increase farm productivity.

Prof Khosla stressed the importance of artificial intelligence-enabled digital tools for increasing farm income and productivity during a lecture on 'Future of Farming: Big Data, Analytics, and Precision Agriculture' during the plenary session at Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) on Thursday.

Prof Khosla also stressed the importance of artificial intelligence-enabled digital tools for increasing farm income and productivity during a lecture on 'Future of Farming: Big Data, Analytics, and Precision Agriculture' during the same session.

Lectures on 'Conservation Agriculture a Global Perspective,' were presented by Dr Bruno Gerrad and Ben Guerir from Morocco. They stated in the lectures that switching conventional agriculture to conservation agriculture helps save natural resources and mitigate crop losses caused by climate change.

Furthermore, designing appropriate farm machinery for small and marginal farm holdings can have a significant impact on conservation agriculture adoption.

They also stated that Axial flow pumps should be utilised to preserve moisture during droughts.

Dr Simon Cook of Murdoch University's Future Food Institute who was the keynote speaker gave an enlightening discourse on 'Digital Agriculture for Smart Agriculture,' emphasising the necessity of digitisation in agriculture for precision input application for marginal and small farmers.

In his lectures, he stated emphatically that "In India, the use of digital technology has accelerated in recent decades. From the standpoint of agricultural output, financial gains, consumers, and government, digital-agritech promotes more reforms ".

In the meanwhile, the third-day plenary featured four keynote lectures from national and international experts, as well as 15 lead papers, 15 oral presentations, and 17 fast presentations.

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Scientists Advocate for the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture in hyderabad - Krishi Jagran

Amazon and Alphabet are among the companies best positioned to take advantage of future artificial intelligence disruption in the technology industry, a GlobalData analysis shows.

The assessment comes from GlobalDatas Thematic Research ecosystem, which ranks companies on a scale of one to five based on their likelihood to tackle challenges like artificial intelligence and emerge as long-term winners of the technology sector.

According to our analysis, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, IBM, Alibaba, Apple, Baidu, Huawei, Yandex, Z Holdings, Airbnb, ByteDance, Nvidia, Inspur Electronic, Tesla, ABB, TSMC, GE, Expedia, Siemens, Alibaba Pictures, Darktrace, AMD, Wayfair, iFlytek, Nuance, Suning.com, Cambricon and Graphcore are the companies best positioned to benefit from investments in artificial intelligence, all of them recording scores of five out of five in GlobalDatas Advertising, Application software, Cloud services, Consumer electronics, Ecommerce, Industrial automation, IT infrastructure, Music, Film, & TV, Publishing, Semiconductors and Social media Thematic Scorecards.

Amazon, for example, has advertised for 18,116 new artificial intelligence jobs from October 2020 to September 2021; and mentioned artificial intelligence in company filings 86 times.

Alphabet indicated good levels of AI investment, with the company looking for 2,349 new artificial intelligence jobs since October 2020; and mentioning artificial intelligence in filings 137 times.

The table below shows how GlobalData analysts scored the biggest companies in the technology industry on their artificial intelligence performance, as well as the number of new artificial intelligence jobs, deals, patents and mentions in company reports since October 2020.

Higher numbers usually indicate that a company has spent more time and resources on improving its artificial intelligence performance, or that artificial intelligence is at least at the top of executives minds. However, it may not always mean that it is doing better than the competition.

A high number of mentions of artificial intelligence in quarterly company filings could indicate either that the company is reaping the rewards of previous investments, or that it needs to invest more to catch up with the rest of the industry. Similarly, a high number of deals could indicate that a company is dominating the market, or that it is using mergers and acquisitions to fill in gaps in its offering.

Nevertheless, these trends are useful in showing us the extent to which top executives in the technology sector and at specific organisations think about artificial intelligence, and the extent to which they stake their future on it.

This article is based on GlobalData research figures as of 10 November 2021. For more up-to-date figures, check the GlobalData website.

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Amazon and Alphabet lead the way in artificial intelligence, data reveals - Verdict

Artificial intelligence technologies have reached impressive levels of adoption, and are seen as a competitive differentiator. But there comes a point when technology becomes so ubiquitous that it is no longer a competitive differentiator -- think of the cloud. Going forward, those organizations succeeding with AI, then, will be those that apply human innovation and business sense to their AI foundations.

Such is the challenge identified in astudy released by RELX, which finds the use of AI technologies, at least in the United States, has reached 81% of enterprises, up 33 percentage points from 48% since a previous RELX survey in 2018. They're also bullish on AI delivering the goods -- 93% report that AI makes their business more competitive. This ubiquity may be the reason 95% are also reporting that finding the skills to build out their AI systems is a challenge. Plus, these systems could be potentially flawed: 75% worry that AI systems may potentially introduce the risk of bias in the workplace, and 65% admit their systems are biased.

So there's still much work to be done. It comes down to the people that can make AI happen, and make it as fair and accurate as possible.

"While many AI and machine learning deployments fail, in most cases, it's less of a problem with the actual technology and more about the environment around it," says Harish Doddi, CEO of Datatron. Moving to AI "requires the right skills, resources,andsystems."

It takes a well-developed understanding of AI and ML to deliver visible benefits to the business. While AI and ML have been around for many years, "we are still barely scratching the surface of uncovering their true capabilities," says Usman Shuja, general manager of connected buildings for Honeywell. "That said, there are many valuable lessons to be gleaned from others' missteps. While it's arguably true that AI can add significant value to practically any department across any business, one of the biggest mistakes a business can make is to implement AI for the sake of implementing AI, without a clear understanding of the business value they hope to achieve."

In addition, AI requires adroit change management, Shuja continues. "You can install the most cutting-edge AI solutions available, but if your employees can't or won't change their behaviors to adapt to a new way of doing things, you will see no value."

Another challenge is bias, as expressed by many executives in the RELX survey. "Algorithms can easily become biased based on the people who write them and the data they are providing, and bias can happen more with ML as it can be built in the base code," says Shuja. "While large amounts of data can ensure accuracy, it's virtually impossible to have enough data to mimic real-world use cases."

For example, he illustrates, "if I was looking into recruiting collegiate athletes for my professional lacrosse team, and I discovered that most of the players I am hearing about are Texas Longhorns, that might lead me to conclude that the best lacrosse players attend the University of Texas. However, this could just be because the algorithm has received too much data from one university, thus creating a bias."

The way the data is set up and who sets it up "can inadvertently sneak bias into the algorithms," Shuja says. "Companies that are not yet thinking through these implications need to put this to the forefront of their AI and ML technology efforts to build integrity into their solutions."

Another issue is that AI and ML models simply become outdated too soon, as many companies found out, and continue to find out as a result of Covid and supply chain issues. "Having good documentation that shows the model lifecyclehelps, butit'sstill insufficient when models become unreliable," says Doddi, "AI model governance helps bring accountability and traceability to machine learning models by having practitioners ask questions such as 'What were the previous versions like?' and 'What input variables are coming into the model?''" Governance is key. During development,Doddi explains, "MLmodels are bound by certain assumptions, rules, and expectations. Once deployed into production, the results can differ significantly from results in development environments.This is where governance is critical once a model is operationalized.There needs to be a way to keep track of various models and versions."

In some cases with AI, "less is more," says Shuja. "AI tends to be most successful when it is paired with mature, well-formatted data. This is mostly within the realm of IT/enterprise data, such as CRM, ERP, and marketing. However, when we move into areas where the data is less cohesive, such as with operational technology data, this is where achieving AI success becomes a bit more challenging. There is a tremendous need for scalable AI within an industrial environment, for example using AI to reduce energy consumption in a building or industrial plant -- an area of great potential for AI. One day soon, entire businesses -- from the factory floor to the board room -- will be connected; constantly learning and improving from the data it is processing. This will be the next major milestone for AI in the enterprise."

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Artificial intelligence: Everyone wants it, but not everyone is ready - ZDNet

What to Know

Job candidates rarely know when hidden artificial intelligence tools are rejecting their resumes or analyzing their video interviews. But New York City residents could soon get more say over the computers making behind-the-scenes decisions about their careers.

A bill passed by the city council in early November would ban employers from using automated hiring tools unless a yearly bias audit can show they wont discriminate based on an applicant's race or gender. It would also force makers of those AI tools to disclose more about their opaque workings and give candidates the option of choosing an alternative process such as a human to review their application.

Proponents liken it to another pioneering New York City rule that became a national standard-bearer earlier this century one that required chain restaurants to slap a calorie count on their menu items.

Instead of measuring hamburger health, though, this measure aims to open a window into the complex algorithms that rank the skills and personalities of job applicants based on how they speak or what they write. More employers, from fast food chains to Wall Street banks, are relying on such tools to speed up recruitment, hiring and workplace evaluations.

I believe this technology is incredibly positive but it can produce a lot of harms if there isnt more transparency, said Frida Polli, co-founder and CEO of New York startup Pymetrics, which uses AI to assess job skills through game-like online assessments. Her company lobbied for the legislation, which favors firms like Pymetrics that already publish fairness audits.

But some AI experts and digital rights activists are concerned that it doesnt go far enough to curb bias, and say it could set a weak standard for federal regulators and lawmakers to ponder as they examine ways to rein in harmful AI applications that exacerbate inequities in society.

The approach of auditing for bias is a good one. The problem is New York City took a very weak and vague standard for what that looks like, said Alexandra Givens, president of the Center for Democracy & Technology. She said the audits could end up giving AI vendors a fig leaf for building risky products with the city's imprimatur.

Givens said it's also a problem that the proposal only aims to protect against racial or gender bias, leaving out the trickier-to-detect bias against disabilities or age. She said the bill was recently watered down so that it effectively just asks employers to meet existing requirements under U.S. civil rights laws prohibiting hiring practices that have a disparate impact based on race, ethnicity or gender. The legislation would impose fines on employers or employment agencies of up to $1,500 per violation though it will be left up to the vendors to conduct the audits and show employers that their tools meet the city's requirements.

The City Council voted 38-4 to pass the bill on Nov. 10, giving a month for outgoing Mayor Bill De Blasio to sign or veto it or let it go into law unsigned. De Blasio's office says he supports the bill but hasn't said if he will sign it. If enacted, it would take effect in 2023 under the administration of Mayor-elect Eric Adams.

Julia Stoyanovich, an associate professor of computer science who directs New York University's Center for Responsible AI, said the best parts of the proposal are its disclosure requirements to let people know they're being evaluated by a computer and where their data is going.

This will shine a light on the features that these tools are using, she said.

But Stoyanovich said she was also concerned about the effectiveness of bias audits of high-risk AI tools a concept that's also being examined by the White House, federal agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and lawmakers in Congress and the European Parliament.

The burden of these audits falls on the vendors of the tools to show that they comply with some rudimentary set of requirements that are very easy to meet, she said.

The audits wont likely affect in-house hiring tools used by tech giants like Amazon. The company several years ago abandoned its use of a resume-scanning tool after finding it favored men for technical roles in part because it was comparing job candidates against the companys own male-dominated tech workforce.

There's been little vocal opposition to the bill from the AI hiring vendors most commonly used by employers. One of those, HireVue, a platform for video-based job interviews, said in a statement this week that it welcomed legislation that demands that all vendors meet the high standards that HireVue has supported since the beginning.

The Greater New York Chamber of Commerce said the city's employers are also unlikely to see the new rules as a burden.

Its all about transparency and employers should know that hiring firms are using these algorithms and software, and employees should also be aware of it, said Helana Natt, the chamber's executive director.

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NYC Aims to Be First to Rein in Artificial Intelligence Hiring Tools - NBC New York

Piscataway, N.J. - 18 November 2021 -IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, today released the results of "The Impact of Technology in 2022 and Beyond: an IEEE Global Study," a new survey of global technology leaders from the U.S., U.K., China, India, and Brazil. The study, which included 350 chief technology officers, chief information officers, and IT directors, covers the most important technologies in 2022, industries most impacted by technology in the year ahead, and technology trends through the next decade.Learn moreabout the study and the impact of technology in 2022 and beyond.

The most important technologies, innovation, sustainability, and the future

Which technologies will be the most important in 2022? Among total respondents, more than one in five (21%) say AI and machine learning, cloud computing (20%), and 5G (17%) will be the most important technologies next year. Because of the global pandemic, technology leaders surveyed said in 2021 they accelerated adoption of cloud computing (60%), AI and machine learning (51%), and 5G (46%), among others.

Its not surprising, therefore, that 95% agreeincluding 66% who strongly agreethat AI will drive the majority of innovation across nearly every industry sector in the next one to five years.

When asked which of the following areas 5G will most benefit in the next year, technology leaders surveyed said:

As for industry sectors most impacted by technology in 2022, technology leaders surveyed cited manufacturing (25%), financial services (19%), healthcare (16%), and energy (13%). As compared to the beginning of 2021, 92% of respondents agree, including 60% who strongly agree, that implementing smart building technologies that benefit sustainability, decarbonization, and energy savings has become a top priority for their organization.

Workplace technologies, human resources collaboration, and COVID-19

As the impact of COVID-19 varies globally and hybrid work continues, technology leaders nearly universally agree (97% agree, including 69% who strongly agree) that their team is working more closely than ever before with human resources leaders to implement workplace technologies and apps for office check-in, space usage data and analytics, COVID and health protocols, employee productivity, engagement, and mental health.

Among challenges technology leaders see in 2022, maintaining strong cybersecurity for a hybrid workforce of remote and in-office workers is viewed by those surveyed as challenging by 83% of respondents (40% very, 43% somewhat) while managing return-to-office health and safety protocols, software, apps, and data is seen as challenging by 73% of those surveyed (29% very, 44% somewhat). Determining what technologies are needed for their company in the post-pandemic future is anticipated to be challenging for 68% of technology leaders (29% very, 39% somewhat). Recruiting technologists and filling open tech positions in the year ahead is also seen as challenging by 73% of respondents.

Robots rise over the next decade

Looking ahead, 81% agree that in the next five years, one quarter of what they do will be enhanced by robots, and 77% agree that in the same time frame, robots will be deployed across their organization to enhance nearly every business function from sales and human resources to marketing and IT. A majority of respondents agree (78%) that in the next ten years, half or more of what they do will be enhanced by robots. As for the deployments of robots that will most benefit humanity, according to the survey, those are manufacturing and assembly (33%), hospital and patient care (26%), and earth and space exploration (13%).

Connected devices continue to proliferate

As a result of the shift to hybrid work and the pandemic, more than half (51%) of technology leaders surveyed believe the number of devices connected to their businesses that they need to track and managesuch as smartphones, tablets, sensors, robots, vehicles, drones, etc.increased as much as 1.5 times, while for 42% of those surveyed the number of devices increased in excess of 1.5 times.

However, the perspectives of technology leaders globally diverge when asked about managing even more connected devices in 2022. When asked if the number of devices connected to their companys business will grow so significantly and rapidly in 2022 that it will be unmanageable, over half of technology leaders disagree (51%), but 49% agree. Those differences can also be seen across regions78% in India, 64% in Brazil, and 63% in the U.S. agree device growth will be unmanageable, while a strong majority in China (87%) and just over half (52%) in the U.K disagree.

Cyber and physical security, preparedness, and deployment of technologies

The cybersecurity concerns most likely to be in technology leaders top two are issues related to the mobile and hybrid workforce including employees using their own devices (39%) and cloud vulnerability (35%). Additional concerns include data center vulnerability (27%), a coordinated attack on their network (26%), and a ransomware attack (25%). Notably, 59% of all technology leaders surveyed currently use or in the next five years plan to use drones for security, surveillance, or threat prevention as part of their business model. There are regional disparities though. Current drone use for security or plans to do so in the next five years are strongest in Brazil (78%), China (71%), India (60%), and the U.S. (52%) compared to only (32%) in the U.K., where 48% of respondents say they have no plans to use drones in their business.

An open-source distributed database that uses cryptography through a distributed ledger, blockchain enables trust among individuals and third parties. The four uses in the next year respondents were most likely to cite in their own top three most important uses for blockchain technology are:

The vast majority of those surveyed (92%) believe that compared to a year ago, their company is better prepared to respond to a potentially catastrophic interruption such as a data breach or natural disaster. Of that majority, 65% strongly agree that COVID-19 accelerated their preparedness.

About the Survey

"The Impact of Technology in 2022 and Beyond: an IEEE Global Study" surveyed 350 CIOs, CTOs, IT directors, and other technology leaders in the U.S., China, U.K., India, and Brazil at organizations with more than 1,000 employees across multiple industry sectors, including banking and financial services, consumer goods, education, electronics, engineering, energy, government, healthcare, insurance, retail, technology, and telecommunications. The surveys were conducted 8-20 October 2021.

About IEEE

IEEE is the worlds largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics.Learn more

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Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, and 5G Will Be the Most Important Technologies in 2022, Says New IEEE Study - Dark...