Is It Safe To Use AI On Farm? Here's What One Expert Does

There's no shortage of content telling farmers to "get on AI." Most of it is written by people who've never stepped foot on a farm, translated from corporate advice that doesn't fit regional life at all. Steph Grills, who runs Rural Data Services and now specialises in AI support for farmers, has spent the last few months building the thing that's actually missing: someone who understands farming, understands AI, and will sit down and do the implementation with you, not just talk at you about it.

Start With What's Not Confidential

The question Steph gets most is about data security, and fair enough. Her answer is simple: don't put anything confidential into the chat. She de-identifies any client data, and her own, before it goes anywhere near an AI platform. She's even built a desktop tool that strips identifying details out before anything gets typed into Claude or ChatGPT.

But if you're just starting out and haven't got sensitive data to worry about yet, her advice is even simpler. Sign up for a free account. Give it a made up scenario. Have a play around. You're not going to break anything, and that's exactly how she built her own confidence with it.

It's A Tool, Not An Employee

Steph is deliberately hesitant to call AI an employee, and that distinction matters. She doesn't want it making decisions on its own. What she wants is for it to do the job she gives it, properly, the way she's told it to. That's the role she sees it playing more and more: handling operations, pulling systems together, and doing the groundwork that supports the actual decisions she and her clients make.

It's not there to think strategically. It's there to collate the information that makes the strategic thinking easier.

Where The Time Actually Gets Saved

For Steph, the shift has shown up in her own business too. Her nap time (the quiet work window every parent running a business from home will recognise) has shrunk. But scheduled tasks running in the background have picked up the slack, freeing her up to focus on the client work only she can do.

Her most practical tip for farmers who are time poor and don't want to sit at a desk typing things out: use voice notes. Record a thought while you're driving between paddocks and turn it into a document later. Small, unglamorous, and genuinely useful.

It Won't Take Your Job. It'll Give You Time Back

Steph doesn't think AI is coming for anyone's job. What she does think is that there's real value in using it on farm, as long as someone's still checking the output. The human checkpoint doesn't go away. It just gets a lot less tedious.

If you've been curious but haven't known where to start, that's reason enough to start small. Give it a go with something that doesn't matter yet, and see what it can actually do.

Steph's running more AI workshops for farmers and regional businesses. Head to Rural Data Services and get on her email list so you don't miss the next one.

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