Like marijuana legalization itself, AI is in its early stages, and advances in AI technology are being increasingly applied in the legal cannabis industry to help marijuana companies from seed to sale.
Here are the main ways in which AI technology is being leveraged in the marijuana industry.
1. AI for optimizing cannabis cultivation
Achieving the ideal growing conditions at a large-scale cannabis farm is difficult. Deviations from optimum levels of sunlight and humidity can inhibit plant growth, and monitoring these inputs manually is laborious.
AI, alongside the use of IoT devices and robotics, can automatically monitor your grow site’s environmental conditions and make the necessary adjustments as required without human intervention.
AI sensors and cameras can even detect signs of ill health and disease in marijuana plants, alerting the farmer so they can either be saved or disposed of.
As well as reducing waste, these AI technologies can help maximize marijuana yields.
2. AI for tracking cannabis inventory
AI and IoT devices can also help automate inventory management. Instead of manually tracking sales and physically checking if certain products are running low, AI can do this automatically. It can also notify you when products need to be replaced and can run analytics to inform you which products are your top performers and which perhaps need to be reconsidered.
3. AI cannabis customer service
Customer service is another aspect of a marijuana business that AI can help make more efficient. Instead of relying on a member of staff to answer common customer questions, an AI chatbot on the company’s website can take care of these.
Similarly, AI technology can help customers find the products best-suited to them, as well as the appropriate dosages to purchase.
This means employees have more time to answer more complex questions or needs that customers may have.
4. Anticipating demand with AI
The cannabis industry is growing rapidly in states that have legalized marijuana, but consumer demand is not necessarily easy to predict. Certain products and strains may explode in popularity, while others may fall by the wayside.
AI technology can gather data from social media, website traffic and other sources to provide you with insights that may suggest where consumer demand is heading.
5. AI support for cannabis marketing
Advances in AI technology alongside an abundance of customer data means predictive analytics are becoming more accurate and powerful.
With this information and these insights, your marijuana business can develop more effective marketing campaigns targeted at your current and potential customers to encourage greater sales.
Whether it’s tailored marketing emails or broad social media campaigns, AI can help you better understand your audience.
6. AI for legal compliance
Related to AI cannabis marketing, AI technology can help ensure you remain compliant with state marijuana marketing laws.
Legal states prohibit cannabis marketing aimed at minors, but there are often other restrictions in place as well. AI software can scan your cannabis marketing content and then flag potential legal breaches that could result in a ban for your company from important marketing channels.