[ExI] Politicians made to stop lying?

[BillK]

Realtime Political Fact-Checking Becomes A Reality With WaPo’s ‘Truth Teller’

<http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/29/realtime-political-fact-checking-becomes-a-reality-with-wapos-truth-teller/>

Today, exclusively with TechCrunch, The Washington Post has announced
a fully automated fact-checking program, Truth Teller, that displays
“TRUE” or “FALSE” in real time next to video of politicians and
pundits as they speak.

Eventually, The Washington Post‘s digital team hopes that Truth Teller
can automatically draw from wisdom of the entire Internet and be
available for citizens on their smartphones to fact-check politicians
as they hold backyard BBQs during campaign season.

The reality is, The Washington Post‘s project takes us one step closer
to a place where democracy has never been. It could very well have
profound effects on the most malicious rumors that feed an
ever-increasingly partisan political discourse. The upside to a major
news network such as Fox or CNN implementing a polished version of
Truth Teller is probably well worth the risk.
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Sounds like a good idea. Though the article makes the point that
'truth' in complex situations depends on the spin that is applied. So
the project may be (at first) limited to more black and white lies.
Though even this will be an improvement.

If they manage to extend the reach of the project, then it could be
applied to virtually all environments, not just politics.
So when you hear the latest urban legend that happened to a friend of
a friend, your smartphone immediately flags it as 'FALSE'.

And what if girls start fact-checking the lines fed to them by eager
males????  ;)


BillK