MarketMate: A Human-in-the-loop Automated Data Collection System for Local Makers' Markets

Abstract

We present MarketMate, a human-in-the-loop (HITL) automated pipeline that streamlines the data collection process for local craft fairs and makers' markets. Our system employs a unique combination of human judgment and data automation technologies to compile a comprehensive database of makers' markets. MarketMate addresses the lack of a browsable directory of makers' markets. This report describes the iterative approach we used to develop our system and reflects on the challenges and opportunities introduced by HITL systems to inform the data collection pipeline of automated systems that rely on subjective human judgments. We provide insight into the balance of HITL and fully automated data collection strategies and discuss the potential for further improving the automated pipeline with additional artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.