Is it dangerous to rely on technology?

Over the years, agriculture has come to rely more and more on technology and artificial intelligence (AI). The use of AI in the industry has many obvious benefits, including the analysis of data that enable farmers to make better-informed decisions regarding production. This helps them save water, electricity and other crucial resources, while optimising production and improving food security.

In a paper titled ‘Responsible artificial intelligence in agriculture requires systemic understanding of risks and externalities’, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence in February 2022, authors Asaf Tzachor et al explore the ‘dark’ side of AI and machine learning (ML), from both a socio-economic perspective and cybercrime perspective.

Farmer’s Weekly has previously reported on the growing threat of cyberattacks in agriculture. Indeed, according to global reports, this is currently the biggest risk to agribusinesses. Tzachor et al say the problem with AI and ML is that the more farmers and agribusinesses rely on these technologies, the more open they are open to cyberattacks. In mid-2021, for example, a cyberattack on JBS Foods, the world’s largest meat processor, led to the temporary shutdown of its operations in Australia, the US and Canada. JBS reportedly paid a ransom of US$11 million (about R170 million) to resolve the situation. Another US company, New Cooperative, was also the victim of a cyberattack in late 2021, and was asked to pay a US$5,9 million (R91 million) ransom.

MSSP Alert reported that “[…] 40% of the nation’s grain production runs through [New Cooperative’s] software, and the ransomware attack could break the supply chain very shortly”. New Cooperative allegedly did not pay the ransom, and managed to find a way to work around the ransomware.

In South Africa, we saw a similar disruption to the country’s supply chain when Transnet was hacked in July 2021, forcing ports to revert to paper documentation, which drastically slowed down the loading and unloading of trucks and ships.

At the time, Denys Hobson, logistics and pricing analyst at Investec, said this cyberattack would have far-reaching effects, “[…] both in terms of lost sales and cash flow issues and, potentially, there could be catastrophic congestion that actually forces shipping lines to start diverting their vessels away from South African ports”.

While technology has undoubtedly made agriculture more productive and food supply chains more efficient, South Africa and other countries have learnt a hard lesson: their data and systems aren’t necessarily secure from ransomware and cyberattacks. So, this raises the question: are we too reliant on technology to keep farming and supply chains going? The answer is a complicated one: yes, we may be relying too heavily on these technologies, but the world is not going to return to a tech-free way of life, nor should it.

The benefits of AI, ML and other technologies in terms of agricultural production and the promotion of food security are well documented. However, farmers and other agritech users would be well advised to ensure their systems are as secure as possible: back up your data, secure your hardware, and use cybersecurity software to mitigate these risks as much as you can.