The Big Issue – August 19, 2019

19-25 AUGUST 2019 BIGISSUE.COM| 37

CULTURE

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SOCIETY

AfoodbankinHuddersfieldisusingthemightofdata

andcomputermodelstohelppeoplebeforetheybecome

dependent on food parcels.Liam Geraghty reports

modelthatevaluateshowlikelyfoodbank

usersaretobecomedependentonfood

parcelstosurvive.

OftheWelcomeCentre’s 250 orsoclients

everyweek,morethan 100 canbenewto

theservice,sothemachine-learningtool

canassessthelikelihoodofthenewintake’s

dependencyanddecidewhethertoreferthem

tosupportworkersatthecentre.

Dr AndrewTomlinson,a softwareengineer

andUniversityofLeedslecturerwhoworked

withDataKindtodevelopthesystem,said

thatithasprovena successintheninemonths

ithasbeenrunning.

He said:“The machine-learningapproach

providesa systemwhichmatcheseach

client’sparticularcircumstancesandreasons

for referralto The WelcomeCentreagainst

thoseofsimilarclientswe’veseeninthe

pastandmakesa recommendationtothe

supportworkerastowhethersheshould

lookoutfortheclientwhentheyarriveat

thecentretocollecttheirfoodpack.

The ultimatedecisionaroundwho the

supportworkerseeslieswiththeworker

herself,themachine-learningsystemsimply

providesadditionalinformationtohelpher

makethisdecision.”

AccordingtoDrTomlinson,around

threeorfourclientsarereferredtothe

supportworkereverydayandthe

machine-learningtoolhasallowedtheir

worktobecomemoreimpactful.

Ratherthanhavingtoveteachclient

individually,theycanfocusonhelpingthe

smallsectionoffoodbankuserswhoare

likelytobecomedependent,aroundfourper

centaccordingtotheirapproachdata,to

tackletheirissuesandmoveonwith

theirlives.

However,thisinterventionisnotpossible

foreveryfoodbank.Forthosesolelyreacting

tohelpfamiliesinthethroesofanemergency,

itisbeyondtheirscope,withmanynot

keepingtherecordsnecessarytosupport

a machine-learningtool.

But for otherslike The WelcomeCentre,

wherebroadersupportis offeredalongside

foodparcels,itcanhavea hugeimpact.

“Generally,ifanITsystemdoesn’twork,it

isquicklydiscardedandignoredbythosewho

aremeanttobeusingit,”saidDrTomlinson.

“The fact that the machine-learningtool is still

being used after nine monthsis evidencein

itselfofitssuccess.

“Butforsomefoodbankswebelievethat

thereisanalmostphilosophicalresistance

towardsdetailedrecordkeeping,withthe

perceptionbeingthatrecordinginformation

aboutusagenegativelyequatestorationing

andtracking.”

There are so many people,charitiesand

organisationsdoingtheirbesttotackle

hunger,especiallyintheschoolholidaysas

wehavefoundinourcampaigningover

thesummer.

Butprevention,inthiscasethrough

machinelearning,canbea key ingredient

tocookupa solution.

@Lazergun_Nun

M

achinelearningisalltheragerightnow.

The NHS are all over it –they’vevowedto becomeworld

leaderson the tech front in the next five years,to make 30 million

outpatientappointmentsunnecessaryandsave£1bntoreinvest

infrontlinecare.

MachinelearningisalsoatthecoreoftheDepartmentforTransportplans

to checkout road markingsby reviewing150 millionhigh-definitionimages

ofUKcarriageways.

Both examplesare a far cry from SiliconValleygiantslike Facebookand

Google,wherealgorithmsanddataarecommonplace.

But a humblefoodbankin Huddersfieldis perhapsan even less likely

candidatetoemploymachinestoimprovetheirservice.

The WelcomeCentregot in touchwith The Big Issue earlierin the summer

inresponsetoourcampaigntoendholidayhunger(seemoreonthaton

page11).

We’veopenedourpagesuptoshoutaboutthosewhoaremakinga

differenceto familieson the breadlineas they deal with feedingtheir kids an

extra meal with no free schooldinnerson offer in the holidays.

The WelcomeCentretold us how they were turningto crowdfundingto

help deal with the immediateneed,fillingfood parcelswith essentialsto feed

familiesfrom 34 local schoolsthis summer.

But the foodbankis also focusingon prevention–whichis an aim The Big

Issuesharesinourownmissiontocombatpoverty.

They have teamedup with DataKind,a globalnon-profitthat uses data and

AI for good, and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to create a machine-learning

Food processor

Clientis referred

by phone

Volunteerputsdetails

inthesystem

A foodparcel

is prepared

Parcelis collected

by client

Highscoresreferred

to support worker

Modelusedtopredict

future usage

HOW THE WELCOME CENTRE USES MACHINE LEARNING