Lenovo’s AI Discovery Lab Leader Discusses AI in Ag

When Lenovo’s David Ellison visited North Carolina State University’s Plant Sciences Building back in May, he was intrigued to learn how important advanced information technology is becoming to farming.

Now, he’s interested in exploring new opportunities with the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative to take artificial intelligence in agriculture even further, both responsibly and ethically. Already, Lenovo has contributed financially to the initiative’s MakerSpace, a lab for rapid prototyping of low-cost custom hardware and software solutions for monitoring plant and crop systems.

Ellison is chief data scientist with Lenovo’s AI Discovery Lab, headquartered in Research Triangle Park. Named one of Analytics Insight Magazine’s 10 most influential tech leaders to follow in 2024, he has a particular interest in pursuing what he calls “AI for good” and serves as chairman of Lenovo’s Responsible AI Committee.

Before joining Lenovo in 2018, Ellison ran an international scientific analysis and equipment company and worked as a data scientist for the U.S. Postal Service. He holds a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and has published in top-tier journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences.

Ellison recently shared his thoughts about AI for good, its implications for agriculture and why he’s interested in collaborating with the N.C. PSI.

What do you mean when you say ‘AI for good’?

At Lenovo, we often say we’re ‘solving humanity’s greatest challenges.’ I established and chair the Responsible AI Committee, and this is where we evaluate all internal and external projects to see that they’re doing AI in a responsible, ethical and legal manner all the time.

We evaluate these projects on six different pillars: diversity and inclusion, privacy and security, accountability and reliability, explainability, transparency and environmental and social impact.

We’re doing weather prediction with University of Connecticut. We’re doing island conservation projects: We helped Robinson Crusoe Island (in Chile) detect coati and rats and other invasive species and help relocate those to other locations. Additionally, I’m in a research project right now using Large Language Models for single cell predictions, which has cancer research implications.

There’s the aspect of doing AI responsibly, and then there’s AI for good, and that is where we’re using AI actively to support things that help humanity.

What constitutes AI for good in agriculture?

At Lenovo, we’re focused on providing smarter technology that builds a more sustainable future for our customers, colleagues, communities and the planet. Agriculture is part of that and also needs to be sustainable. A lot of the things that NC State is doing support not only the sustainability but also the affordability of crops out there. That has all types of implications in social justice and food equity.

We all have to eat, and the more sustainable we make agriculture, the more affordable we make food. That way, more people can enjoy fresh produce and get access to healthy ingredients.

At NC State, I’ve heard about using computer vision for managing cover crops, reducing nitrogen pollution and managing difficult weeds. With sweetpotato processing, it’s a way to helps make food more affordable and reduce waste. And then there’s disease discovery and modeling. Those are all things we’re interested in.

What does Lenovo bring to the table when it comes to collaborating with NC State?

Companywide, we have a billion-dollar investment in AI, and we are growing our capabilities and our expertise in that area. We are willing to work with NC State and provide data science services to your researchers and provide end-to-end AI solutions to our clients.

We also have plenty of industry outreach and relationships built up around the world and are members of different organizations making an impact on AI and directing AI into the future, whether that’s the OCED (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the MLCommons, the Linux Foundation’s trusted AI committee or the National AI Advisory Committee.

And, of course, we have hardware expertise and lend out hardware to academic institutions. We know how to customize solutions for our customers. But I said everything else first because I don’t want to emphasize just the hardware. We do a lot more than hardware. Lenovo now has a lot of software and services that we deliver on.

And what does the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative bring to the table?

We’re approaching sustainability from hardware side, and you’re approaching sustainability from agriculture side. We see that as a mutual win-win toward making food more affordable and inclusive, allowing people who might not have access to fresh produce to get it and afford it. That supports the diversity and inclusion pillar in our responsible AI committee and our corporate commitment to supporting responsible AI.

NC State also has a diverse and inclusive student body. You’re getting people interested in data science who may not have otherwise, and with that brings diversity of thought, which is especially important when trying to solve interesting challenges with data science.

Also, we believe in supporting local communities. Lenovo has called North Carolina home since 2005, with Morrisville headquarters about 10 minutes from Raleigh, so we are always excited to support North Carolina and local universities.

Seeing how the Plant Sciences Initiative is applying technology to agriculture and meeting the deep thinkers who understand both technology and agriculture was really impressive. This isn’t just academia that’s happening in an ivory tower somewhere. This is academia that has a tangible influence on the real lives of farmers and people in the community.