Mobile-Based AI Platform Integrating Image Analysis and Chatbot Technologies for Rice Variety and Weed Classification in Precision Agriculture

Abstract

This work presents the development of an intelligent chatbot system capable of identifying rice plants and weeds from aerial photographs captured by smartphones, thereby enhancing precision agriculture. The study involves creating an AI model that utilizes image processing and deep learning techniques. Users can access the model through a LINE chatbot, and the study will also assess users' satisfaction with the model. Researchers gathered 12,000 pictures of rice fields in Phayao Province, Thailand, to train a modified InceptionV3 model using transfer learning. The dataset included images of rice plants and various types of weeds. The model was trained using image data collected under natural lighting and augmented to improve generalization. It achieved training, validation, and testing accuracies of 98.79%, 96.08%, and 97.83%, respectively. When deployed through a LINE Chatbot, it analyzed user-submitted images to estimate rice-to-weed ratios, yielding 73.33% average accuracy with consistent rice detection. Thirty individuals who used the system reported that it functioned well, was user-friendly, and provided significant benefits for farming in real-world applications. These results suggest that the system could leverage easily accessible AI tools to enhance farming efficiency, reduce costs, and positively impact the environment.