UC Merced student engagement: Innovation Harvest grows AI skills | Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology, and Agriculture

By: Alli Sweigard, VISTA F3 Communications Coordinator

Agricultural innovation was the focus of an evening workshop on AI on Oct. 26 at the University of California, Merced Arts and Computational Sciences building. Hosted by VISTA F3 Innovate and Tesserakt Ventures the “Innovation Harvest” workshop hosted undergraduate-students and dove into the intriguing world of artificial intelligence in agriculture and explored applications of ChatGPT, an OpenAI platform. This workshop provided a hands-on learning experience for UC Merced students to gain knowledge about agriculture and tech careers.

The next workshop is scheduled for November 16, at 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Dr. Vikram & Priya Lakireddy Ballroom at UC Merced, where the focus will shift to database applications and rapid prototyping.

Keynote speaker, Daniel Sabzehzar, from Tesserakt Ventures, is a UC Merced alum and local venture capital fund manager. He shared insights into how artificial intelligence can revolutionize farming practices and increase agricultural productivity, making it clear that the agricultural industry is ripe for technological disruption, with an emphasis on inclusive innovation.

As students practiced agile development they played with the versatile tool of ChatGPT, known for its proficiency in natural language processing and generation. Sabzehzar guided the participants through the process of using ChatGPT to create code, unlocking new opportunities for innovation and problem-solving.

They were tasked with creating codes and developing AI solutions that could benefit the agricultural industry. As the room buzzed with creative energy, students collaborated, to craft innovative solutions and took turns presenting those ideas to the other attendees.

Michael Tapia, fourth year computer science major at UC Merced said, “I never realized how easy it is to get a working product using AI.” He noted how interesting it was to see the different projects students were able to create in such a short amount of time.

At the start of the workshop, students were asked to describe the biggest problems with our food system in three words; waste, disease, unsustainable, global warming and low quality were popular answers among attendees. This helped start the conversation of agriculture and the need for technological advances in the industry, such as the farm ng Amiga Robot.

Sabzehzar introduced students to the Amiga robot and encouraged them to participate in the 2024 Farm Robot Challenge to help create new applications for this micro-tractor. The Amiga was created to help growers to easily create farming solutions and reduce manual labor.

If you’d like to join a FarmBot Challenge team, contact vista@ucmerced.edu

Sabzehzar underlined the importance of innovation in his address to the students. He stressed that the world of AI and agriculture was ever-evolving, with endless possibilities waiting to be discovered. He encouraged the students to use their newfound knowledge and skills to dream, create, and apply their ideas.

Lucia Barboza, third year computer science and engineering major at UC Merced said, “Innovation Harvest introduced me to the world of AgTech. It was inspiring to see participants use ChatGPT to develop web apps that address local farming challenges.”

The Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology, and Agriculture, known as VISTA, is at the forefront of addressing critical environmental and societal challenges. Among VISTA’s initiatives is the Farms-Food-Future Innovation Initiative, aimed at finding innovative solutions to pressing issues. The Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Coalition secured a record breaking $65.1 million federal grant, the largest ever in California’s Central Valley. This funding is set to propel research and climate-smart food system solutions. The hub’s mission is to unite farms with industry and communities, fostering productivity, job creation, and regional sustainability for the benefit of local communities.