This medical marijuana start-up uses artificial intelligence to find which strain is best for you – CNBC

Artificial intelligence is being used to improve banking, marketing, the legal field and now to find which one of the more than 30,000 strains of medical marijuana is best for you.

Potbot uses AI to "read" through peer-reviewed medical journals to find studies on cannabinoids, the active compounds in marijuana. Using the research, it pairs 37 symptoms like insomnia, asthma and cancer with branded marijuana strains to find which type of weed is best suited to treat each one.

The company has raised $5 million to date, according to Potbotics CEO David Goldstein. Part of the reason for its success is the technology doesn't actually involve marijuana directly, making it completely legal he said. The app is available in Apple's App Store and the Google Play store. In addition, the bigger pharmaceutical companies haven't entered the space, giving the marijuana industry a "start-up mentality."

"We definitely see there's interest in the industry, for sure," Goldstein said. "It's one that has real potential in the United States and internationally. A lot of investors like non-cannabis touching entities, because they feel like they are hedging their bets a little bit."

There are some challenges, including having to look at state-by-state regulations instead of being able to scale quickly like other tech companies, he pointed out. Potbotics is focusing in the New England area for now.

See the rest here:

This medical marijuana start-up uses artificial intelligence to find which strain is best for you - CNBC