Keynote at International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications (CHIRA 2022), Malta, 27-28 Oct 2022. https://alandix.com/academic/talks/CHIRA2022-keynote/ Politicians have always been economical with the truth and newspapers have toed an editorial line. However, never in recent times does it seem that confidence in our media has been lower. From the Brexit battle bus in the UK to suspected Russian meddling in US elections, fake news to alternative facts – it seems impossible for the general public to make sense of the contradictory arguments and suspect evidence presented both in social media and traditional channels. Even seasoned journalists and editors seem unable to keep up with the pace and complexity of news. These problems were highlighted during Covid when understanding of complex epidemiological data was essential for effective government policy and individual responses. If democracy is to survive and nations coordinate to address global crises, we desperately need tools and methods to help ordinary people make sense of the extraordinary events around them: to sift fact from surmise, lies from mistakes, and reason from rhetoric. Similarly, journalists need the means to help them keep track of the surfeit of data and information so that the stories they tell us are rooted in solid evidence. Crucially in increasingly politically fragmented societies, we need to help citizens explore their conflicts and disagreements, not so that they will necessarily agree, but so that they can more clearly understand their differences. These are not easy problems and do not admit trite solutions. However, there is existing work that offers hope: tracing the provenance of press images, ways to expose the arguments in political debate, tracking the influence of news on electoral opinion. I hope that this talk will give hope that we can make a difference and offer challenges for future research.

1. Alan Dix
https://alandix.com/
@alanjohndix
https://alandix.com/academic/talks/CHIRA2022-keynote/
Truth in an Age of Information

2. Truth in an Age of Information
bad actors and good actors
… and those in the middle
fighting back
doing better

3. falsehood flies,
and
truth comes limping after it
Jonathan Swift
The Examiner No. 14, Thursday, 9th November 1710

5. violence and assassination

6. crucial issues
future
pandemics
growing
inequality
climate change
and water crises

8. a B-movie
cast

9. intrinsically bad people, states, or media
… or just those on the ‘other’ side?
bad methods and/or bad information
inc. misinformation and hateful or violent content
sometimes tell the truth!
bad reasons – twisting facts, Astroturfing
maybe not not all bad
bad actors

10. BSE (mad cow disease) … no problem

11. good actors
don’t always tell the truth …
deliberate
– eg. war time … Glasgow blitz
accidental ….

12. BBC – fact check
poor numeracy … e.g. Greenland ice
hard to notice flaws when you agree
… academic papers?

13. outcomes …
mistakes – e.g. £350 million
spinning – selection, quote marks
emphasis – headlines vs. last paragraph
subtle language – passive vs active
images – misleading placement, cropping
sometimes deliberate
often simply human bias

14. I worry most about poor arguments
from those with whom I agree
loss of moral force
easy to refute
loss of confidence in media

15. life is maybe
more like a
Clint Eastwood
movie

16. an ecology of (mis)information
producers consumers
information
our side
other side
really bad
true
slanted
false
ignore
choose the
convenient
excuse
play
“swop the
politician”

17. feedback effects
downward spiral
exacerbated by internet
By Everaldo Coelho (YellowIcon); -, LGPL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18332735
needs
audience
reaction
wants
instant
meaning
simplified
messages

19. two paths
fighting back
doing better

20. two paths
fighting back
doing better

21. echo chambers and filter bubbles
lots of work
– network visualisations of information flows
– counter-views … tend not to work if too counter
the ecology
– media – preaching to the converted
– public – idea that search is neutral
being liberal?

22. argumentation
fact checking sites
– out of context, misinterpreted
– state interpretation, show full source
– checking data … “beyond my pay grade”
teaching rhetoric?
– debating classes, flipping sides
– academic papers too!
argumentation systems
– gIBIS, QOC, Deb8

23. Deb8

24. data and provenance
quotes and context
Snip!t
“the camera never lies” (late 19th C)
Four Corners
make it easy!
1970s file systems, Word and PPT

26. data and provenance
quotes and context
Snip!t
“the camera never lies” (late 19th C)
Four Corners
make it easy!
1970s file systems, Word and PPT

28. data and provenance
quotes and context
Snip!t
“the camera never lies” (late 19th C)
Four Corners
make it easy!
1970s file systems, Word and PPT

29. numerical data
numeric data and innumeracy
–more BBC – 35,000 m3 vs 35 km3
qualitative–quantitative reasoning
–iVolver
–worksheets

32. numerical data
numeric data and innumeracy
–more BBC – 35,000 m3 vs 35 km3
qualitative–quantitative reasoning
–iVolver
–worksheets

33. iVolver

34. WS2 (worksheets)

35. WS2 (worksheets)

36. WS2 (worksheets)

38. call to action
tools and methods
for press
for public
for politicians
…
and academics too!
GOOD INFORMATION

39. Truth in an Age of Information
we can make a difference
Alan Dix
https://alandix.com/academic/talks/CHIRA2022-keynote/