How Artificial Intelligence For The Masses Is Coming

I stumbled upon this great story of a japanese farmer using Artificial Intelligence (AI) – or at least some form of learning algorithm – to develop a cucumber sorting machine using cheap technology widely available -see for example the Quartz post ‘The ultimate promise of artificial intelligence lies in sorting cucumbers‘. For the technical geeks, the full description of the contraption is here on a Google blog.

The cucumber-sorting machine!

The inspiring part of the story is of course how a japanese farmer could leverage such technology for cheap and using available cloud technology and cheap raspberry-type devices. This shows the amazing possibilities offered for cheap today to those that are able to grasp them. If you read the more technical blog, we can also understand that it still has taken some effort to get the machine learning in place, but the amazing thing is how it can transform anybody’s lives by tinkering with readily available stuff.

Technology for the masses is coming. Let’s not underestimate its potential.