Bayer launches state-of-the-art generative AI tool for agriculture

German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, Bayer recently announced the launch of an expert GenAI system to benefit farmers and up-level agronomists in their daily work

By utilising proprietary agronomic data, the company has been able to train a large language model (LLM). The intuitive system obtained as a result responds to natural language, thus quickly and accurately answering questions related to agronomy, farm management, and Bayer agricultural products. 

The tool which is expected to benefit millions of smallholder farmers was developed in collaboration with Microsoft as leading technology partner and Ernst & Young (EY) as an industry partner. Bayer is currently exploring ways to integrate this expert GenAI system into its digital offerings. Moreover, the company also anticipates broad opportunities for collaboration with other agricultural offerings and partners. Bayer plans to expand the pilot of the expert GenAI system to selected agronomists and potentially farmers as early as this year, while continuing to advance a separate GenAI prototype allowing users to directly query their own farm data. 

“Our unique GenAI system has the potential to serve agronomists and benefit farmers all over the world, further advancing AI as an indispensable technology for agriculture,” said Amanda McClerren, CIO and head of Digital Transformation & Information Technology for Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “We will continue to use traditional AI to develop better products, and we are also committed to harnessing new GenAI technology in a thoughtful way that augments and supports knowledgeable experts across the industry, bringing value to farmers and those who serve them.”

In addition to collaborating with Microsoft on the expert GenAI system, Bayer announced an update late last year, on the companies' strategic partnership to bring readymade capabilities, AgPowered Services, to the agri-food industry.

For more information, visit: www.bayer.com