Scientists develop cutting-edge AI to address mounting pressure on food supply: 'Sets the stage for continued innovation'
A new AI model is measuring weed growth with 95% accuracy, improving global food security by expediting the development of safer herbicides . The technology eliminates the need for slow, manual assessments of how well weed-killing chemicals work, Loughborough University reported. This innovation comes at an important time for farming worldwide. Weeds compete with crops for resources such as moisture and nutrients, threatening food production . At the same time, herbicides face two challenges: Weeds become resistant, and evidence suggests chemicals pose environmental and health risks . The artificial intelligence system is the result of a partnership between university computer scientists and the agricultural biotech firm Moa, an Oxford University spin-out. Their model analyzes images of treated and untreated weeds, then categorizes herbicide effectiveness as active, moderate, or inactive, work that previously required human experts....
