Advances in plant biology often stem from novel insights gained from the intellectual curiosity of researchers, but limitations in human capabilities could prevent the discovery of new, more nuanced, biological phenomena. One promising solution to this problem is to extend the innate perceptive and information-processing capacities of humans with the help of devices and computers (collectively referred to as ‘machines’). This special issue focuses on the growing phenomenon of human-machine collaboration in plant biology’ and showcases 10 original articles that explore the potential of artificial intelligence, novel optical devices, and human augmentation technologies to accelerate discoveries in plant biology (see editorial by Nakajima et al.). For instance, humans are unable to capture information from reflected light at certain wavelengths or polarization that can be perceived by some animals as essential information for feeding, stress avoidance, and fertilization. To facilitate new discoveries in this field, Balandra et al. have developed the P-MIRU system, a portable imaging device that can easily capture multi-wavelength and polarization information of reflected light, and demonstrate its usefulness in visualizing flower color transitions and cryptic differences in leaf surface phenotypes, which would have otherwise remained invisible to the human eye.