Students at Spelman College created PlantGPT, an artificial intelligence system that lets people “talk” with their plants. The technology uses sensors to collect real-time data about a plant’s health, such as water levels, sunlight, and nutrients, and then uses AI and text-to-speech software to translate that information into spoken responses.
The project was developed by students Joy Rutledge, Temple Dees, Grace Burch, Jessica Obi, and Devyn Washington. It originally used ChatGPT but was later switched to TinyLlama, an AI model that can run locally without internet access. The system gathers plant data with sensors connected to an Arduino, sends the data to the AI to generate care recommendations, and then converts the response into speech so the plant can “communicate” its needs.
While the initial goal was to help houseplant owners care for their plants, the students hope to expand the technology to small farms and urban gardens, allowing farmers to detect plant health issues early and support community food security.
| The PlantGPT AI System | |
|---|---|
| Category | Details |
| Developers | Spelman College Students & Alumni (including Grace Burch, Temple Dees, Jessica Obi, Joy Rutledge, and Devyn Washington) |
| Development Site | The Arthur M. Blank Innovation Lab (Spelman College, Atlanta, GA) |
| Core Function | Uses AI to monitor plant health data and translates it into conversational language, effectively letting the plant "talk" to its caretaker about its needs. |
| The Hardware | Sensors connected to an Arduino board that track soil moisture, humidity, temperature, and light intensity. |
| The Software | A local Large Language Model (Tiny Llama) combined with text-to-speech technology to give the plant personality and agency. |
| Recent Accolades | Won a $1,000 prize at the Center for Black Entrepreneurship’s New Venture Competition and took top honors at the AAAS Making & Innovation Showcase. |
| Future Goals | Expanding the technology from houseplants to local farms and urban gardens to help combat food insecurity. |
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