With the wave of cannabis legalization across various states in the US, the marijuana industry is on a rapid path of expansion. There has been a high surge in the demand for marijuana which keeps growing by the day. In 2018, C$569 million was spent alone on cannabis by Canadian consumers. But, this is not the most impressive figure. Sales are expected to grow by 44% annually meaning the sales revenue will amount to $5.2 billion by 2024. The global marijuana market might hit sales of $57 billion alone by 2025. This humongous demand needs more efficient, innovative, cost-effective methods for producing cannabis.
Further making matters difficult, there are various factors, like lighting, water, carbon dioxide and soil nutrition that can impact the growth of cannabis. Since there is no one definite proportion of these factors, the growing of pot becomes a complicated work, putting enormous pressure on the cannabis companies. In order to stay in the industry, companies need to come up with innovations and ideas that give them a competitive edge.
A Prime Time For The Expansion Of Both Industries
Technological advancements and innovations along with AI have come as a possible solution. With the efficiency of a computer, AI could perform tasks around the clock, thus bringing full optimization. In the cannabis industry, AI has come very handily in various aspects. AI helps with the cultivation process by incorporating data from the IOT (Internet-of-things). This comes in handy when AI detects the reasons behind the poor health of a certain plant, adjusting the growing conditions accordingly.
AI can also help forecast yield size. This helps cannabis managers make decisions regarding the financial aspects of the business, product distribution, etc. It helps project the demand for the near future, allowing companies to prepare. Consumer feedback, awareness, and delivery of cannabis products can be improved using AI.
Similar to ATMs, which helps people withdrawal cash quickly, the marijuana industry has introduced kiosks that allow consumers to purchase cannabis and related products using cash, cards or coins. These kiosks have robotic arms along with AI, promising a bright future for the industry. These kiosks have a great scope in the industry itself with its finger vein scanner ensuring the legality of the transaction. The updated version of the kiosks includes facial recognition along with touch-screen interface enabling multiple product purchases in a single transaction.
Even technology companies are tapping into the opportunity and scope of the cannabis industry. For instance, Canntop, a subsidiary of Datametrex AI, is focused solely on the industry’s requirements and needs. The subsidiary is using its technology to understand consumer needs and demand. This is helping cannabis dealers and government agencies greatly. Many other marijuana companies are coming up with new technologies to utilize and exploit the market. This seems to be a prime time for both cannabis and technology, both having a wide berth of expansion opportunities.
