Connecting AI to Reality
What are the opportunities in interfacing reality with AI to improve existing processes?
"What are the real-life, physical things you think AI can be good at controlling?" is the question I've been asking myself since the explosive growth of LLM-based AI in 2023. While many people focus on the benefits of AI as a tool, I like to understand how it can improve the processes that alter the physical world we live in. To me, things like farming, manufacturing, and construction are good candidates for receiving improvements from AI. Are we there yet? To find out, stay with me.
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We are what we eat. And plants are the base of almost every food chain. Even if you don't like to eat vegetables, think about all the animals you eat. They'd soon be gone without any plants to eat. That's why it is so important for any country to guarantee that growing plants is not only possible but also sustainable. This is precisely what James Dyson has been doing with the Farming project. The goal is not simply to produce more at a lower cost but also to make the production sustainable, which is key for future generations. It all started in 2012 when Dyson first purchased farmland in the United Kingdom. Since then, he's been acquiring more land and using it to build the future of farming. AI is a significant part of how Dyson innovates in agriculture. Autonomous strawberry robot pickers, vertical farming systems that look like Ferris wheels, real-time weed detection, and controlled greenhouse climate are just a few examples of how AI is helping Dyson reach its objectives. Dyson is currently growing strawberries, wheat, barley, potatoes, peas, rye, and maize. They're also breeding sheep and cattle, activities that can directly benefit from AI.
Understanding how much forage is available and where it's located is one of the most important activities affecting the success of livestock breeding. StockSmart is a "grazing management tool developed by researchers at Washington State University, the University of Arizona, and the U.S. Forest Service." The product was launched in early 2024 and has been evolving since then. It uses machine learning on its satellite data interpretation, regression models for terrain correction, and wildfire predictive scenario analytics, among other AI-related functionalities. Its usage of AI is considered so positive that it won Microsoft's "AI for Good" award in 2025. The prize awards products based on sustainability, humanitarian action, and public health. These are definitely things that StockSmart can achieve. Its usage of AI is also directly linked to another important area that affects everyone's lives: construction.
Buildots is a company worth mentioning. And not just because it recently raised $45M in a Series D funding round. It uses "millions of data points from global construction sites" to deliver "predictive and trusted insights." These insights help contractors increase their productivity while decreasing costs. How does it work? Buildots employs several AI-related technologies to provide the desired insights. One such technology is 360-degree cameras that workers wear on their hard hats. The captured images are used to automatically detect completed work, deviations, and infer progress and potential delays. Since all the information flows in real time, contractors can make better decisions in a short time to achieve higher rates of success. And success here also means fewer consumed resources and a higher degree of sustainability.
In the end, sustainability is the key objective we all want to achieve when we use AI. It can't be just about increased velocity and productivity, but also about making sure we use resources in a more sustainable way. Dyson Farming, StockSmart, and Buildots are just three examples of companies that are pushing the limits of what technology can offer. In these cases, AI fits like a glove. I hope other products start using AI not just for summarizing and writing text, but also for interacting with and even manipulating the real physical world we live in.