There has been plenty of discussion about artificial intelligence consuming resources, including the water needed to cool large data centers, but two Treasure Valley teenagers believe AI can also be part of the solution to one of agriculture's biggest challenges: water conservation.
Seventeen-year-old Marco Trotta and 18-year-old Henry Turcotte, both seniors at Bishop Kelly High School, are betting that artificial intelligence can make farming more efficient.
The pair founded Irrigant, a startup that uses machine learning and AI-powered algorithms to help farmers determine when, where and how much water their crops need. Their goal is to reduce wasted water, energy and labor while helping growers maintain healthy crop production.
"We decided to develop a tool that could help optimize irrigation and make sure that farmers are hitting their marks," said Turcotte, Irrigant's co-founder.
According to the students, the technology provides farmers with a clear watering recommendation based on available data and field conditions.
"We use machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize farmers' irrigation and essentially give them a clear watering call of when, where and how much to water so they are not overwatering and not underwatering," Turcotte said.
Trotta says the company's mission has remained the same since day one.
"Since day one, we've been saying we want farmers to do more with less, and I think AI is basically the perfect tool to do that," he said.
The concept raises an obvious question: Can a technology often criticized for its environmental footprint actually help save water?
Data centers that power AI systems can require significant amounts of water for cooling, making water consumption an ongoing topic in conversations about artificial intelligence and sustainability.
However, Trotta and Turcotte point to agriculture's massive demand for water. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, irrigation accounted for 47% of the nation's freshwater withdrawals between 2010 and 2020.
The students believe that if AI can help farmers use even a fraction of that water more efficiently, the benefits could outweigh the resources required to operate the technology.
"There's obviously negatives. There are tradeoffs with anything, but I think there are so many subsets and positive features that this truly is a technology that could be built for good," Trotta said.
So far, Irrigant's founders say they have been testing the technology across approximately 7,000 acres of active farmland and are encouraged by the results.
"We've been testing it for the last eight months, and we're really happy with where our product is," Turcotte said.
As the company continues to expand its field testing, the two young entrepreneurs hope their technology can demonstrate that AI isn't just a consumer tool or a business tool. It may also be a resource that helps farmers grow more food while using less water.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
