When We Have AI That Can Smell! Which Industries Benefit?

When AI Can Smell, Which Industry Will Benefit The Most?

In this era, it's likely that no one is unfamiliar with or hasn't tried artificial intelligence (AI), because currently, these technologies have become something that helps facilitate convenience in many aspects of life. This includes many industries that need to use AI to increase operational efficiency. In the past, we've typically known AI in the form of chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard, Claude, etc. But today, there's another capability that we might not have thought AI could do, and that is "smelling", which is becoming a reality and has the potential to transform many industries!

Getting to Know AI That Can Smell

AI that can smell, or AI odor detection, is an innovation that originated from efforts to develop tools for detecting COVID-19 by analyzing patients' breath. Alex Wiltschko, a researcher from Google, is one of the pioneers of this technology. With a passion for the science of smell, he founded the company Osmo to develop AI that can create and perceive smells like humans. The ultimate goal is to improve human quality of life and happiness through digital smell technology.

Technology Behind AI That Can Smell

The technology crucial to the functioning of AI odor detection is called the "Principal Odor Map," which uses Machine Learning to analyze the molecular structure of odorous substances. Researchers have collected data on thousands of molecules, along with descriptions of their scent characteristics from experts, to create a large database.

The development of AI that can smell faces several challenges due to the complexity of molecular structures. Even slight changes in structure can significantly alter the smell. Therefore, researchers have to use Deep Learning techniques and Graph Neural Networks to enable AI to deeply understand the relationship between molecular structure and scent characteristics.

Advances in the development of AI odor detection open up opportunities for applications in many areas, from creating new scents for products to early disease diagnosis. Additionally, there are concepts for developing technology that can transmit scents digitally, which could lead to creating more perfect virtual experiences in the future.

Which Industries Will Benefit from AI Odor Detection?

Perfume and Cosmetics Industry

AI that can smell could revolutionize the development of perfumes and cosmetic products significantly. It can help in creating new scents that more accurately meet consumer needs. Additionally, it can reduce time and costs in product development by rapidly and accurately predicting the scents of various molecules.

Food and Beverage Industry

AI odor detection can help in developing flavors and aromas of food and beverages that better match consumer preferences. It can also be used for quality control, accurately checking the freshness of ingredients and products.

Medical and Public Health Industry

One of the important goals of AI that can smell is its use in early disease diagnosis by analyzing odors from breath or bodily fluids. This could help in detecting cancer, infectious diseases, or neurological disorders more quickly and accurately.

Agriculture and Livestock Industry

AI odor detection can be used to check the quality of agricultural products, detect diseases in plants and animals, and control fermentation processes in the food and beverage industry. This ensures product quality and reduces the risk of errors during work processes.

Environmental Industry

In today's world where environmental problems are increasingly severe, we will have AI odor detection that can be used to detect air pollution, toxic gas leaks, or water contamination. This will help in preventing and solving environmental problems more effectively.

Security and Safety Industry

AI that can smell can be used to detect explosives, drugs, or other dangerous substances at airports, checkpoints, or important locations, which will help increase overall social safety.

AI odor detection is an innovation with the potential to transform many industries and improve human quality of life, from helping to diagnose diseases at early stages to developing new products that better meet consumer needs. Although there are still many challenges, with continuous development and cooperation from various sectors, we may see widespread use of AI that can smell in the near future. For example, using smartphone applications to check food quality, using wearable devices to monitor health through sweat odor analysis, or even using smart air conditioning systems that can adjust home scents to suit the mood and needs of residents. This will help elevate the quality of life and create new opportunities in various industries.