Advances in deep learning and neural networks have delivered huge breakthroughs in natural language processing and computer vision, and they have the potential to solve big problems in manufacturing, retail, supply chain, agriculture, and countless other business domains. Naturally, technology startups are behind some of the most important innovations. In recent articles, we looked at startups revolutionizing natural language processing and startups leading the way in MLops. Here we'll take a look at "applied AI" startups. These are companies that are applying different techniques--whether it be processing images, text, audio, video, categorical or tabular data, or combinations of the above--to address various industry challenges, from fulfilling the promise of self-driving cars to pushing the boundaries of agricultural production.

One of the challenges of aerial imagery, whether from an airplane or a satellite, is making sense of what you see. What is that image telling you? Ceres Imaging, a California startup with offices in Nebraska and Washington, is using artificial intelligence to answer that question. The company is entering its ninth crop season of providing high-resolution crop imagery for customers. However, John Bourne, vice president of marketing, Ceres Imaging, says the company wanted to work on ways to "productize" the good science it was developing, so three years ago it brought artificial intelligence technology to irrigation issue identification.

It is always fun to look at the widening expansion of sectors that are being helped by artificial intelligence (AI). Farming has regularly used technology to improve yields. In recent years, global warming has made it more important to manage water resources through improved irrigation. Now the agriculture industry is looking at adopting AI in many ways. One of those methods is to analyze crops to better manage yield.

His team provides crop protection services such as fertilizers and herbicides to farmers across Illinois. After a year-long test of a variety of new technologies, Evergreen FS found artificial intelligence could identify trouble, such as fungus growth and water shortages, in corn and soybean crops weeks before the naked eye would ever realize it. The tech, which comes from startup Ceres Imaging, offers farmers an AI analysis of photos taken from planes flying several thousand feet above fields. Previously, the technology was generally limited to orchards and vineyards. After images are taken, Ceres provides maps that highlight trouble spots on farms. Free's team visited the marked areas, but couldn't detect any issues with their own eyes.

If farmers want to know how healthy crops are, perhaps they shouldn't trust their eyes. Matt Free -- a manager at Evergreen FS, an agriculture company -- learned that lesson this year. His team provides crop protection services such as fertilizers and herbicides to farmers across Illinois. After a year-long test of a variety of new technologies, Evergreen FS found artificial intelligence could identify trouble, such as fungus growth and water shortages, in corn and soybean crops weeks before the naked eye would ever realize it. The tech, which comes from startup Ceres Imaging, offers farmers an AI analysis of photos taken from planes flying several thousand feet above fields. Previously, the technology was generally limited to orchards and vineyards.

If farmers want to know how healthy crops are, perhaps they shouldn't trust their eyes. Matt Free -- a manager at Evergreen FS, an agriculture company -- learned that lesson this year. His team provides crop protection services such as fertilizers and herbicides to farmers across Illinois. After a year-long test of a variety of new technologies, Evergreen FS found artificial intelligence could identify trouble, such as fungus growth and water shortages, in corn and soybean crops weeks before the naked eye would ever realize it. The tech, which comes from startup Ceres Imaging, offers farmers an AI analysis of photos taken from planes flying several thousand feet above fields. Previously, the technology was only available for orchards and vineyards.