AI and robot technology has been making waves in food production and processing -- now that's making its way to the butcher block.
© Garret Roberts/The Beaver County Times + © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel + © Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel + © Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel/ USA TODAY NETWORK
(New York, NY) – A recent report in the Wall Street Journal highlights one of the ways artificial intelligence and robot technology is making its way into the food sector — and it could be connected to the next time you sit down for a steak, chop, or some ribs. Butchers are increasingly being replaced by robots, although humans are not truly being replaced, but rather supplemented. The meat processing industry has faced labor shortages for years, and the use of robots can potentially help make up for that shortcoming.
Over the past decade or so, the Canadian and American agricultural industries have utilized robotic milking machines, data-driven seed and insect spray systems, and AI that helps determine ideal growing conditions. Experts say the meat processing sector was a little bit slower to adapt, but progress is being made. For example a robot spends eight hours a day slicing hog carcasses into pieces at a Smithfield Foods plant. Automated rib pullers have been used for years. Smithfield is the largest pork processor in the US, and the company says the rib pullers result in less wasted meat and less strain on workers.
The future is here, and the robots can swing a cleaver. Just keep your fingers and limbs clear of the machine, please.
