Chinese farmer loses 10 hectares of crop after following SI advice

A Chinese farmer lost nearly 10 hectares of sesame crops after following the advice of an artificial intelligence (AI), local newspaper Ctwant reported.

The 67-year-old farmer from Anhui province has been using AI for a year to advise him on planting, fertilizing, and using pesticides. In July, he asked AI for a plan to combat weeds and pests in his sesame field and received recommendations for the use of several drugs.

The farmer applied the recommended drugs to the field without consulting agronomists. As a result, the next day, both the sesame seedlings and the weeds began to wither and die. Local experts say that one of the recommended drugs is mainly intended for broadleaf weeds in soybean fields, and it was wrong to apply it to the entire surface of the sesame field.

Previously, researchers at Stanford University used the SI model to create new bacteriophages that can kill E. coli bacteria. The scientists used the Evo 2 generative SI model to design the phages, which has the ability to solve complex biological problems and suggest new DNA sequences.

"Genome design" using SI could help create new drugs, but the research also raises important issues such as biosafety and protection against biological threats.