AI, cannabis and disruption

“Those who disrupt their industries change consumer behavior, alter economics, and transform lives.” Heather Simmons, Marketer & Author

Giddy up: 2023 might be the year AI, a disruptive group of technologies and tools, hits the cannabis space, delivering transformational value - and potentially upsetting the organizational apple cart.

Essentially, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the use of advanced computing, algorithms and data analytics to perform human activities such as problem solving, forecasting and decisions making. Some of AI’s key features include the ability to learn as it goes, autonomous operation and pattern recognition

AI will impact every functional area right across the value chain.   Firms that effectively leverage AI will compete better and make more money.

The following cannabis AI use cases are already delivering a strong ROI for their first movers-

Cultivation and operations

Cultivators obsess over reducing cost, guarding against pests & mildew and growing standardized products.  Existing AI applications can help you optimize your grow conditions, improve QA and minimize the use of water, fertilizer & energy based on your facility design, weather conditions and greenhouse environment. 

AI can also help you choose the right cannabis strains and better align supply with demand to minimize inventories and improve customer satisfaction.

Content creation

Content development and production is an expensive and time-consuming activity for every sales & marketing, legal, HR, training, and compliance team.

ChatGPT is a visible and powerful example (Sparrow and Perplexity AI are others) of how AI can support knowledge workers.  Though it has some limitations, I have seen ChatGPT write SOPs, develop educational & thought leadership pieces and draft a merger LOI, all in mere seconds.

Medical cannabis

Choosing the right strain or product for a medical cannabis user can be a daunting process for the prescribing healthcare professional.  Today, there may be over 50k different strains and product formats to choose from.  The hundreds of different user profiles (based on patient need, therapeutic area, symptom) exponentially increases the selection complexity leading to a significant amount of guesswork. AI can power an automated chatbot prescriber (with final human oversight) to match the right product to a patient’s needs, and follow up later to check the results.
  
If LI allowed a larger wordcount count, I would outline how AI will transform the retail channel by delivering richer consumer experiences (via AI budtenders) or by optimizing the merchandise mix.

DM me if you are interested in discussing how to leverage AI into your business – and which technological and cultural landmines to avoid.

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