Ladenburg Research Networks

Political opinion-forming is one of the fundamental principles of a functioning democracy. However, it has been subject to major changes in recent years: Along with the traditional media, various protagonists now determine public discourse, which is then often influenced by filters and echo chambers. An interdisciplinary research consortium is investigating how information can be examined and contextualized by means of artificial intelligence. This should especially benefit people with cognitive impairments. The project was selected from among more than 90 submitted applications.

The information landscape is fragmented into various content providers – the social media, influencers, messaging services, and many more. Information is often presented there without any context or indication of the source. Unlike in traditional journalism, the recipients of such information have no opportunity to verify it. This opens the door to misrepresentations, manipulation, distortion, and artificially created content. Democratic processes such as political opinion-forming and free elections are thereby disrupted, existing views are consolidated, and constructive discourse is undermined.

In a research consortium headed by Prof. Dr. Jens Gerken from TU Dortmund University, an innovative software tool (KonCheck) which uses language models based on artificial intelligence is to be developed and tested. This user-friendly app will contextualize politically relevant information and evaluate it terms of its authenticity and trustworthiness.