Waiting for the Summer of AI

At the beginning of May 2022, the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) opened a competition for innovative applications of artificial intelligence (AI). The Centre is looking for projects involving a smart speech processing system for doctors, a mail dispatcher, an assistant for persons filing official applications, and a smart apple picking machine. The total budget is PLN 190 million.

The biggest budget of PLN 100 million has been allocated for the latter project, even if a fruit orchard is not the environment that first comes to mind in the context of AI applications. However, NCBR argues that “automating fruit picking is an answer of sorts to the looming problem” of a shortage of workers in agriculture in the near future. The machine will lend a robotic arm while AI-based on tailor-made software will separate good apples from bad ones.