Schmidt on Truth Detector

Google boss warns politicians about Internet power | Top News | Reuters.com

It sounds like the stuff of science fantasy, but the group that invents a functional “internet truth detector” should win the Nobel Peace Prize, IMO. No single invention could do more to stem the constant bombardment of lies we endure, and theoretically, improve the political discourse in this country.

How would it work? One could imagine some AI software that can detect signs of deceit. Voice stress, etc.. That would be incredibly useful, especially in the portable version. But that’s hard. And I doubt that’s how Google would approach the problem.

Google likes information–lots of it. What information? Right now, various groups are assembling streaming data sources for congressional votes. Link that with fund raising records and some natural language software that can monitor political spin in real time, at least for content, if not veracity. On our new internet-enabled TVs (coincidentally, showing google-managed TV ads), we should be able to see custom subtitles like “Congressman Mark Payoli (R-VA) received $50,000 from the Tobacco lobby” when the good congressman tells snows us as to why he’s opposed to a related bill.

Better than that, we could see old quotes by various media pundits which were proven to be false. When Drudge comes on, claiming teenagers are responsible for tempting 50 year old men, we can remind the audience of that, every time Drudge makes a new defense of the next sexual predator on the block. What it is is a memory, a reminder service of what they told you yesterday, for a world in which our memories seem to last a day at best.

The service would need to be independent, of course. There’s no way Fox is going to run blurbs counter to their official spin, or CNN for that matter. We neet an internet truth machine that remembers everything that people, in their infinite wisdom, forget–or never got to see in the first place.

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