After last week, I had a number different directions I could go with my capstone. Was I going to stay local or focus on a more on international agriculture? What sort of technology or crop, if any in particular, should I focus on? And how would I approach the impacts of the chosen technology? With each question, my capstone could go in a radically different direction, but without a solid base of research and knowledge of the data available, it was difficult to know exactly where to start.
My first debate was where to geographically situate my research. As discussed in my previous post, the American West made a lot of sense to research agricultural technologies due to the area being an economic powerhouse, a hub of scientific and entrepreneurial activity, and its closeness to me makes it easier to study and collect data. Yet, my framing question looks directly at global sustainable development, which would benefit from shifting my focus internationally. It made sense to look comparatively at the American West as compared to a country in a different stage of development and a different culture of technology. India, another country I looked at for situating my project initially, seemed fit as a point comparison. The American West and India seemed good starting points but still felt too big to adequately study in my capstone, so I decided to focus on two areas that best exemplified what attracted me to the regions: California and Northern India. Both of these areas are an interesting mix of large cities, economic development, and ample space for agriculture. As I continue to research these areas and collect data, it may make sense to change these later on, but for now, these will be my areas of focus.
Initially, I thought about simply researching technologies that are part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as described by Klaus Schwab. Yet, I came to realize that that was much too broad for my capstone. I then thought of focusing on synthetic biology, as it plays to my background in Chemistry/ Biochemistry. I came to decide on artificial intelligence, though, as it such an active field right now in AgTech. With AI, I think it will be easier to find data on the impacts of the technology with so much being done already with precision agriculture in the US.
As for what crop to focus on, I found rice to be a common crop between California and Northern India, so it could act as a direct point of comparison. However, I am not currently aware of AI technologies that are specifically being used for rice production, so this could also change with more research.
Finally, I started to think about what aspects of sustainable development I want to specifically research as well. The areas that I found to be most relevant for AI in agriculture were labor conditions, economic efficiency, and agricultural pollution. Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a baseline for sustainable development, this corresponds to the goals for decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, and life on land. These are three areas where I can focus on the impacts before and after technologies and what factors lead to the optimization of these goals. While I am not certain I want to use the UN’s development goals or what indicators I should use to measure these, I do think these three areas of impact are critical for studying AI in agriculture.
Next week it is time to dive deep into journals, books, and reports. These areas of focus surely change throughout my research process, but for now, it is a start.