“Who’s afraid of AI in the wine industry?”

That was the question I asked the audience last week at the ProWein trade fair in Düsseldorf, as I kicked off my session on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for wine. (That’s the title slide of the presentation, above.) It was a full + standing-room-only audience, and I was both curious and happy to see that about one-third of the audience raise their hands to indicate their fear of AI.

I was happy about that response, because it represents a healthy amount of skepticism around technology and data that can be seen (mistakenly) as a “magic wand” solution for the industry’s ills.

I was also curious about that response, particularly that so many professionals who currently work in the trade are aware enough of AI to have an opinion about it, yet are fearful of applying the technology to their business.

Part of the fear, I believe, is rooted in the unknown. Another part is rooted in overwhelm: There is just SO MUCH to AI. So much that can be done with it. So much to learn about it. And so much that can go wrong very quickly.

Which is exactly why I structured the narrative of the presentation into discrete elements, one piece of the winemaking and wine-selling process at a time, rather than a big-picture panacea of some kind of “robot wine” that is both overwhelming and problematic to consider.

Instead, I suggested ways to think about AI in the vineyard, from drones to predicting accurate tonnage. (My thanks to Dan Strengier, CTO at InnoVint, for that particular insight.) There are entirely other ways to think about AI in the winery, such as sensors for measuring fermentation. There are still other ways to implement AI and data in the sales process, in marketing strategies, and to benefit the end consumer. Finally a winery’s overall health can be assessed and improved through AI.

That’s at least six different steps of wine where AI can be incorporated; the final four of them are strengths of Enolytics’ technology.

My overall message, at ProWein and in general, was that AI isn’t a magic wand to solve all of the wine industry’s problems. However, AI’s “magic” can be seen most clearly when it’s applied to the discrete steps of grape growing, winemaking, and wine sales. One step at a time, with each AI-driven solution fit for the purpose of its step in the process.

Does this seem right to you? Why or why not? I hope you’ll let me know your opinion.

As for the audience last week at that presentation in Düsseldorf, I asked the same question again at the end of the session. Who’s afraid of AI in the wine industry? Hands still went up, though this time with the caveat that they were excited by AI too.

To me, that meant my mission was accomplished.

I look forward to your thoughts too.

Thank you, as always, for reading —

Cathy