b'Will AI Chat Bots Make Agronomists Obsolete?IMAGINE SITTINGacross the table during an interview withThis exact situation is happening in other sectors as well. an agronomist candidate who knows everything. The candidateCustomer service jobs used to be outsourced to countries that can recall every soil type, every slope percentage, the details ofhad lower wage rates, but now many of the routine conversa-every disease over the past 20 years and the performance oftions are handled by AI chatbots. According to an April 2023 every seed variety on every acre since 1999. Congratulations,article from tidio.com, 88% of customers have had at least one you just hired an AI chatbot! chatbot conversation in the last year. This will likely be 100% soon. The new abilities of AI chatbots are being reported almostAccording to Grandview Research, the chatbot market size was every day. They can write a hit song, compose a romantic poem,$5.13 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of get an A on a college term paper and even pass medical schoolmore than 23% until 2030. When you combine this with the trend entrance exams. If AI can do all this, at what point do agrono- of humanizing chatbots with more natural-sounding voices and mists become obsolete? the ability to read emotion in a conversation, its easy (and a bit Hiring quality field agronomists and product support positionsunsettling) to see a future in which we talk to computers as much is one of the most challenging tasks a seed brand has. Qualityas other humans.candidates need to have knowledge of the areas soils, diseaseSome of this is already happening on the farm. Growers can and pest pressure, weather patterns and have a deep under- get disease identification by uploading pictures to an app and standing of the germplasm they are representing. Every farm isuse drone or satellite imagery to see which areas of the field are different and the interaction between the environment and theimpacted. Instantly, they will also get a fungicide recommenda-germplasm is nuanced and changes every year. Basically, the jobtion and conveniently connected to a company that sells the is getting tougher to do and the pool of candidates is gettingproduct and can spray the field.smaller each year. But for now, getting mud on your boots is still the best way to support your seed varieties on the farm. Agronomists are more than just a collection of facts and figures. They are a key piece of the farmers brand experience and humans are still better at building trusting relationships than computers. At least, so far!JIM SCHWEIGERTPRESIDENT, GRO ALLIANCEjim.schweigert@groalliance.comgroalliance.com32/ SEEDWORLD.COMLATAM'