To create The Decision Machine, Ellie worked with Dr Ben Shreeve from Bristol’s Department of Computer Science and the University of Bristol Cyber Security Group to explore his research on decision making in industrial control systems and big data.

Using a table-top game called Decisions & Disruptions (decisions-disruptions.org), Ellie became particularly interested in the notion of human fallibility when making unfathomably large-scale decisions. 

The installation itself was created as a playful response to this research - a machine adapted from a vintage writing bureau, inspired just as much by Victoriana steampunk as contraptions invented by Wallace and Gromit. The piece was fabricated by Jack Stiling of Stiling's Workshop at Barton Hill, Bristol.

The Decision Machine invites viewers to reflect on a decision they need to make in their own lives, write it on a card and insert it into the machine then crank the handle to reveal its answer.

It will then give a simple yes or no response, reflecting the binary 0-1 foundations of digital technology as well as highlighting the almost flippant simplicity of potentially huge decisions prompting reflection on the scale and impact of decision making we undertake every day. 

The Decision Machine is on display at Bristol Studio, Great Western Lane, BS5 9BB on Thursday 2 June from 10am to 7.30pm. Entry is free.

It will also be part of the Jean Golding Institute's Bristol Data and AI Showcase, along with the Decisions & Disruptions game/research that inspired it, which takes place at the M Shed on 7 June where visitors are invited to explore the positive impacts of working together to do good with data and join the conversation with engaging scientists including Hannah Fry and Neil Lawrence.