Pol.is
| Developer(s) | The Computational Democracy Project - a 501(c)3 nonprofit |
|---|---|
| Repository | |
| License | AGPLv3 (open-source) |
| Website | https://pol.is |
Polis (or Pol.is) is wiki survey software designed for large group collaborations.[1] An example of a civic technology, Polis allows people to share their opinions and ideas, and its algorithm is intended to elevate ideas that can facilitate better decision-making,[2] especially when there are lots of participants.[3]
Polis has been credited for assisting the passage of legislation in Taiwan.[2][4] Pol.is has also been used in America, Canada, Singapore,[5] Phillipines,[6] Spain[7] and other governments around the world.[8]
Pol.is was founded by Colin Megill, Christopher Small, and Michael Bjorkegren after the Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring movements.[5]
In Taiwan, pol.is has been "one of the key parts" of vTaiwan's suite of open-source tools for its citizen engagement efforts arising out of the Sunflower Student Movement.[9][2] vTaiwan claims that of the 26 national issues related to technology were discussed on the platform and 80% led to government action.[5][9] Pol.is is also utilized by "Join," a national platform for online deliberation run by the Taiwanese government.[10][11] Megill credits Audrey Tang and CL Kao, a cofounder of g0v, with convincing him to open-source pol.is.[12]
Reception
[edit]Andrew Leonard, The Financial Times, and VentureBeat describe Pol.is as a possible antidote to the divisiveness of traditional internet discourse by gamifying consensus.[12][7][13] Audrey Tang agreed saying, "Polis is quite well known in that it's a kind of social media that instead of polarizing people to drive so called engagement or addiction or attention, it automatically drives bridge making narratives and statements. So only the ideas that speak to both sides or to multiple sides will gain prominence in Polis."[14]
Carl Miller praised the technology as having "gamified finding consensus."[15]
Darshana Narayanan, in an op-ed in the Economist, argues that open-source machine-learning-based tools like Polis can help to bypass the influence of special interests or experts.[16]
Jamie Susskind cited polis and vTaiwan as a model for democracies, particularly around digital policy issues.[17]
One of the limitations of digital tools to make decisions is the possibility for hacking.[13]
A minor party candidate in Britain used Pol.is to help develop a platform for an upcoming election.[3]
See also
[edit]- Deliberative opinion poll
- Habermas machine
- Recommender system#Decision-making
- Social media#Criticism, debate and controversy
External links
[edit]- Media coverage of the organization compiled by Pol.is
- Can Taiwan Reboot Democracy? by Click (BBC) via YouTube
- Website of Consul Democracy, a similar but distinct project
- Website of CrowdLaw, a similar but distinct project
References
[edit]- ^ Soper, Tyler (April 17, 2014). "Startup Spotlight: Pol.is uses machine learning, data visualization to help large groups spur conversation". GeekWire.
- ^ a b c Miller, Carl (2020-09-27). "How Taiwan's 'civic hackers' helped find a new way to run the country". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ a b "British political candidate uses artificial intelligence to draw up election manifesto". AP News. 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ Miller, Carl (November 26, 2019). "Taiwan is making democracy work again. It's time we paid attention". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ a b c Narayanan, Darshana (March 22, 2019). "Opinion: Technology and political will can create better governance". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ Ranada, Pia (2020-10-10). "Pasig uses online tech to consult residents on 'open streets' proposal amid pandemic". RAPPLER. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ a b Johnson, Khari (2020-07-04). "How AI can empower communities and strengthen democracy". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ Thorburn, Luke; Ovadya, Aviv (October 31, 2023). "Social media algorithms can be redesigned to bridge divides — here's how". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
- ^ a b Horton, Chris (August 21, 2018). "The simple but ingenious system Taiwan uses to crowdsource its laws". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ Tang, Audrey (2019-10-15). "Opinion | A Strong Democracy Is a Digital Democracy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ Tang, Audrey (March 12, 2019). "Opinion: Inside Taiwan's new digital democracy". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ a b Leonard, Andrew (July 30, 2020). "How Taiwan's Unlikely Digital Minister Hacked the Pandemic". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ a b Warrell, Helen (2021-07-13). "Time for AI to pull up a chair to the negotiating table". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ Richman, Josh (2024-02-27). "Podcast Episode: Open Source Beats Authoritarianism". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
Polis is quite well known in that it's a kind of social media that instead of polarizing people to drive so called engagement or addiction or attention, it automatically drives bridge making narratives and statements. So only the ideas that speak to both sides or to multiple sides will gain prominence in Polis. And then the algorithm surfaces to the top so that people understand, oh, despite our seeming differences that were magnified by mainstream and other antisocial media, there are common grounds...
- ^ Miller, Carl (2019-10-25). "Crossing Divides: How a social network could save democracy from deadlock". BBC. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
- ^ Narayanan, Darshana (March 22, 2019). "Opinion: Technology and political will can create better governance". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ Susskind, Jamie (2022). "Chapter 20". The digital republic: on freedom and democracy in the 21st century. New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-64313-901-2. OCLC 1259049405.