Researchers at University of California, Davis, are developing a chatbot powered by Artificial Intelligence to help growers, backyard gardeners, landowners and others identify and treat weeds. 

WeedChat will have access to and train itself on a broad array of papers, books, journals and other data that allow it to provide real-time accurate, comprehensive information about weeds and invasive plants, said Mohsen Mesgaran, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.  

Sometimes, all it takes to eat better is a little nudge in the right direction. A team of UC Davis researchers is working on a new smartphone app that makes it easier to eat healthy by recognizing what’s on your plate and offering personalized suggestions to improve your diet.

The UC Davis Graduate Program of Environmental Policy and Management, or EPM, prepares students through its comprehensive Policy Clinic to help students feel career-ready by gaining practical experience, building a professional network and developing key skills.

Policy Clinic is an important part of the EPM curriculum, providing students with hands-on experience in addressing current environmental policy issues or natural resource management needs. 

Listen to this story on UC Davis' Unfold podcast.

Harvesting Intelligence: AI’s Journey From Farm to Table

Artificial intelligence is already changing how people work, communicate online, create art and manage businesses. Now the technology is being used in every aspect of our food systems.

Much of the discussion around implementing artificial intelligence systems focuses on whether an AI application is “trustworthy”: Does it produce useful, reliable results, free of bias, while ensuring data privacy? But a new paper published Dec. 7 in Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence poses a different question: What if an AI is just too good? 

To manage johnsongrass, a noxious weed that crowds out cotton and sickens horses, farmers have tried herbicides, burning and hand-pulling. Now, researchers at University of California, Davis, have developed a more high-tech weapon against the invasive weed: artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Artificial intelligence could be a valuable tool for the future of food safety. New research out of the University of California, Davis, finds that a technique using AI and optical imaging can quickly and accurately identify bacteria in food, making it a promising approach for preventing foodborne outbreaks and illnesses.

Catie McVey wants to bring big data to the small farmer.

The Ph.D. candidate in animal biology at UC Davis has developed a customizable artificial intelligence platform called DairyFit to help dairy farmers get a better sense of what is happening in their herds.

McVey combined biostatistics and machine learning into an algorithmic platform where farmers can visualize data that is already being captured and analyze it to look for insights into behavior.