Marijuana Business Magazine January 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | January 2020 66 DECIPHERING DATA Most cannabis growers record data manually—in a notebook or spreadsheet—creating inconsistencies caused by human error and inefficient production and facility management, which Greenberg estimates can ultimately result in 10%-25% crop loss each season. Recording data manually and trying to repeat it year after year, with varying conditions and sometimes different staff, creates an open-loop system that makes data subject to outside influences. AI helps close that loop to perfect recipes for crop production and improve consistency. “It’s a new level of granularity that’s also scalable and profitable,” Greenberg said. “That’s how we’re going to drive efficiency for this industry.” The beauty of AI, according to experts, is its ability to automatically integrate, read and decipher the scores of data recorded from automated systems growers already use—such as environmental controls, automated irrigation systems and lighting—at speeds humans are incapable of replicating. “When you go to a beach, it’s made up of grains of sand. Imagine those grains of sand represent data,” Keiller said. “Data by itself is just a beach of sand, it’s just grit between your toes. But if you were to build a sandcastle with it, you’ve now shaped it into something meaningful, and that’s what we do with data. Data by itself doesn’t mean anything, but when you create something with it, it’s very powerful.” When growers have to track everything from compliance and traceability requirements to plant health and crop-management inputs, in addition to dealing with the weather and other variables, the pressure can be overwhelming. This is where automation and AI technology comes in, Keiller said. “At the end of the day, there’s not enough knowledge and not enough people to grow everything, so you’re going to have to use AI combined with robotics and other automation technologies to run everything,” he said. Cannabis operations benefit from AI- powered technology in six areas: • Growing methods, or protocols • Day-to-day labor savings • Growth-rate tracking • Yield forecasting • Inventory management • Profitability management GROWING PROTOCOLS Labor and turnover are some of the most expensive factors plaguing competitive cannabis producers. With a shortage of skilled labor and experienced growers, the last thing an operation wants is for its talent to be recruited away along with the company’s unique production recipes and trade secrets. “Our goal is: Can we take the capability and knowledge of a really great grower and put it in a system? That’s basically the direction of AI,” iUNU's Luna system includes 3D cameras that are mounted on rails above the crops in greenhouses or indoor grows, allowing cultivators to review crop inventory and zoom in on individual plants from their mobile devices. Courtesy Photo