Alexis Whyte

Hi Alexis,

Thanks for posting! It’s looking like companies who utilize IoT technology at the forefront of their strategies will disrupt the agricultural market very soon. You bring up a good point about how a lot of companies (specifically produce subscription services) will have to change their marketing strategies and update their value propositions. With agricultural companies using AI and machine learning there will be an influx of big data to process, as well. A big challenge for any company adapting to using IoT tech will be handling and analyzing the data that comes along with it.

If the cost of these produce subscription services went down a little bit more I would be interested in subscribing to them. More data about agricultural practices means more quality foods and more satisfied customers. I would like to see more organic foods available all over the city versus specific gentrified parts of it. It would only help us to have these foods be affordable.

I think a lot of people don’t really understand what GMOs are and immediately see them as a bad thing. We’ve successfully engineered crops to be more weather- and disease-resistant, more nutritious, and more productive. While this obviously helps minimize the impact that agriculture can have on the environment, there’s some aspects of growing that we need to better control. Water usage is extremely important – I think IoT can help ensure that only the exact amount of water needed is used to water crops, so as to not exacerbate drought conditions in parts of the world. I also look at pesticide use and can see where IoT can minimize the instances of its overuse.

Hi Alexis,

It sounds like implementing IoT into agriculture would be a great advantage for farmers and consumers. I see the topic of reducing food waste all of the time and it would be great to start right at the beginning of the chain. Food waste also occurs a lot because people only want the best looking produce. If using IoT could make more uniform and healthy looking produce then maybe even less food would go to waste. I also like the idea of knowing what a crop needs before preemptively doing something that might be unnecessary like spray pesticides. Having sensors that know what portions of crops need extra care and those that don’t sounds like a great cost saving tool.

I only ever shop for my produce in stores. There have been a few times when I thought of trying a subscription service, but unfortunately I probably don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. I like going to the store to see what I am buying and also get a cheap price.

Hey Alexis, great read.
I find it fascinating how much produce are wasted every single year due to mishaps that are easily preventable. I do not use a produce subscription service because I prefer to pick out my own stuff at the grocery store, but if technology was flawless, I would have no problem using a service that picks out my produce for me.

Having access to better quality and cheaper produce will not have that big of an impact on me but I can see how it can impact people who are food insecure and do not have easy access to fresh foods.

I can feel very iffy about AI being integrated into my life or my daily schedule in general. But, I think I’d be more opt to allow it in a strictly assistive way, as you mentioned with Starbucks, than letting a robot or AI system completely run my life. Very interesting read! Thanks for sharing!

Hi Alexis,

Great topic choice! I personally like how Starbucks is implementing AI. The goal of fast food chains is to deliver food quickly and provide an excellent customer experience. Utilizing AI for routine tasks frees up more employees to assist where needed. This is especially crucial now due to the lack of employees companies have due to the pandemic.

There’s nothing more frustrating than going to a fast food place and waiting in line or not getting exactly what you ordered. So implementing AI to improve the restaurant experience would be a great move. Of course, you’d have to weigh the pros and cons of doing so. But in the end, if it makes the business operate more efficiently and provides a better experience, I think it’s worth it.

Hi Alexis,

Great post! Like Montrease, I’m uneasy and feel that there are pros and cons to each. While very cool (especially for someone like me who loves personalization!), I don’t necessarily think the KFC meal suggestion tool is worthwhile. I feel as though, with fast food drive though, people already know what they want – quick and easy and their minds are made up. I’ve never gone through a drive through asking the operator if they prefer a McChicken or the Filet O’ Fish. On the other hand, I think Starbucks has gotten it right in terms of leveraging AI on the back end behind the scenes for data management, scheduling, etc. This allows for better streamlining and inefficiencies and most likely is more affordable considering they don’t have to hire someone to manage those things directly.

P,S, I admittedly went to McDonalds while in Rome so we both share a refined palate 😉

Ah the good ol’ airline industry. I struggle with this one! I greatly value the flexibility that Southwest offers and believe that all airlines should take that same flexible approach – especially considering most airlines flex that same “expectation of flexibility” on their end – “we overbooked your flight and therefore need to bump you”; “your connector flight has now been canceled so you will now change flights in Philadelphia as opposed to the originally scheduled Phoenix.” If they expect us, as consumers, to be agile in terms of their scheduling process, than why, as a as multi-billion industry, can’t they offer that same level of flexibility to their customers? With the uncertainty that COVID continues to present, especially in relation to the dynamic travel restrictions, I think this only reinforces the need for larger and costlier airlines to adopt more customer centric changes going forward.