2011-12-05

'Truth Goggles' a Lie Detector For the Internet

MIT boffin's 'truth goggles' probe print and pols • The Register

A student at MIT’s Media Lab is developing a browser plug-in that can check the accuracy of information posted online, and may use it to monitor political speeches for untruths.


Schultz’s script, which he calls “Truth Goggles,” (not Googles, as I originally wrote) is still in a very early state. At the moment he is using Politifact and NewsTrust APIs as his sources, and has a system of breaking down articles into snippets, which are essentially chunks containing a verifiable claim and some context.

Introducing Truth Goggles

I’m working on a magical button.  This button, when pressed, will tell you (an average person who just wants to know what is happening in this crazy world) what is true and what is false on the web site you are viewing. I have a fair amount of the platform finished already and you can check it out here.

[...]

The next steps are:
  • Designing and implementing the snippet creation process
  • Designing an interface to present the verdicts and claim information in more detail
  • Writing scripts to update the claims with the latest results from fact checking databases
The long term ways that this project could be expanded are:
  • Incorporating social media to aid in claim and verdict mining
  • Adding in the ability to view news through the lens of RELATIVE truths rather than just the attempted absolute truth.  For instance, what would a superliberal democrat believe?  What would a tea party member believe?  What do people from Ohio think?



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