Collective Machine Teaching for Food Rescue
The imaginary of collective machine teaching manifesting in a food saving infrastructure.
An experimental participatory design exploring data- and algorithm-based distribution of rescued food. It took place in the spring of 2024 in Basel, Switzerland, in the framework of the Scaling Material Urban Commons research project at the Critical Media Lab Basel. The project aimed to craft imaginaries of algorithmic infrastructures that turn resources into commons, and more specifically, community-based machine teaching as a key element of such infrastructural imaginaries. Participants contributed to the Field Test by negotiating the distribution of rescued food amongst themselves, teaching a machine to orchestrate the distribution, using the food as ingredients in their kitchens, reflecting on the experience and reteaching the machine accordingly. The participatory phase of the Field Test lasted six weeks, including a welcome dinner (hosted by the Lab Name (hidden for peer review)), three assembly meetings (hosted by Lab Name (hidden for peer review)), and two one-week-long phases of food deliveries. Basel-based food rescue organisation FoodAngels partnered with the research project to collect unsold food items from supermarkets and deliver them to participants. Field Test participants used the Food Distribution Engine, an experimental tool developed by the research team to enable participants to provide daily information about their kitchens, generate training data and train an algorithmic food distribution model. FoodAngels used their interface to the Food Distribution Engine to enter available food items daily during the Delivery Weeks, and the model responded with the delivery address.
Urban situation : Algorithmic food distribution infrastructure connecting food rescue depot with individual kitchens.
Description of showreel : Elements of the collective machine teaching and distribution infrastructure, featuring research questions the project addresses.
Community or communities involved : Seven participant volunteers Food Angels Basel
Host organization : FHWN Critical Media Lab Basel
Legal form : Academic research project