HUNGRY ECOCITIES : Paths to progress Experiments
+ PROJECT
TOMATO BRAIN
AXIA x Jo Kroese
SUMMARY
Tomato Brain is an art-driven experiment exploring how modular AI agents—each with specialised knowledge—can work collaboratively to improve decision-making across the food supply chain. Developed in partnership with Axia, the project reimagines agricultural intelligence through a decentralised, cybernetic lens. Inspired by Project Cybersyn, it proposes a new form of AI—local, modular, and transparent—that enhances sustainability, reduces waste, and empowers stakeholders with contextual insight.
Through creative co-design, speculative visualisation, and technical prototyping, Tomato Brain merges LLM technology with systemic design to test how collaborative AI agents can interact with users, data, and each other to offer real-time, context-specific advice for growers and producers. It challenges the notion of singular AI systems by envisioning a plural, adaptable AI network aligned with ethical, ecological, and human-centered values.
This project is part of the Hungry EcoCities initiative and will be shared through the HEC Lab repository and public showcases, including industry presentations, video documentation, and online visualisations.
“Jo’s experience as an artist was a great fit to our project proposal. It is great to see artists working in the tech and data space, as it is quite a fast-evolving field where creativity and experimentation are essential for progress”
William van der Riet – Axia vegetable seeds
+ ARTIST
Jo Kroese
Netherlands
Jo is an English-Dutch mathematician, artist and
technologist. Their work uses data and technology to
create tools for liberation and real utopias.
+ SME
AXIA SEEDS
Vegetable seeds
Naaldwijk, NETHERLANDS
Axia is an innovative breeding company, specialized in creating vegetable seeds for protected crops. They run a dedicated program for heated greenhouses, with or without artificial light. Their breeding program is characterized by a strong focus at taste and healthy ingredients, with a very high yield.
The HungryEcoCities project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101069990.