Truth goggles sniff out suspicious sentences in news

[Triple Zero]

Truth goggles sniff out suspicious sentences in news

A graduate student at the MIT Media Lab is writing software that can highlight false claims in articles, just like spell check.

You're reading a wrap-up of the Sept. 22 Republican presidential debate when you land on this claim from Rep. Michele Bachmann: "President Obama has the lowest public approval ratings of any president in modern times."

Really? You start googling for evidence. Maybe you scour the blogs or the fact-checking sites. It takes work, all that critical thinking.

That's why Dan Schultz, a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab (and newly named Knight-Mozilla fellow for 2012), is devoting his thesis to automatic bullshit detection. Schultz is building what he calls truth goggles — not actual magical eyewear, alas, but software that flags suspicious claims in news articles and helps readers determine their truthiness. It's possible because of a novel arrangement: Schultz struck a deal with fact-checker PolitiFact for access to its private APIs.

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Unfortunately I couldn't find any links to research papers or demos on this ambitious project. I believe it can technically be done (to some extent of accuracy), but I'd really like to read about the specific techniques they're using.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

This is very cool! I hope it gets completed. And packaged with every browser.

[Telarus]

Whoa, neat.

[Prelate Diogenes Shandor]

This sounds like it will be a very useful tool until its inevitable corruption.