Reason against the machine? Future directions for mass online deliberation

Abstract

Designers of online deliberative platforms aim to counter the degrading quality of online debates. Support technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing open avenues for widening the circle of people involved in deliberation, moving from small groups to “crowd” scale. Numerous design features of large-scale online discussion systems allow larger numbers of people to discuss shared problems, enhance critical thinking, and formulate solutions. We review the transdisciplinary literature on the design of digital mass deliberation platforms and examine the commonly featured design aspects (e.g., argumentation support, automated facilitation, and gamification) that attempt to facilitate scaling up. We find that the literature is largely focused on developing technical fixes for scaling up deliberation, but may neglect the more nuanced requirements of high quality deliberation. Furthermore, current design research is carried out with a small, atypical segment of the world's population, and little research deals with how to facilitate and accommodate different genders or cultures in deliberation, counter pre-existing social inequalities, build motivation and self-efficacy in certain groups, or deal with differences in cognitive abilities and cultural or linguistic differences. We make design and process recommendations to correct this course and suggest avenues for future research.

Conversational agents enhance women's contribution in online debates

“…Such stereotypes could either be misogynistic or simply inappropriate for the target population. This instance brings us to the second challenge, the design choices when building AI-powered online platforms, given that there could be different interpretations of inclusion, equality, and gender biases 14 . Such choices often follow cultural styles that might not be appropriate for certain populations or minorities.…”

“…Online platforms now allow humans to communicate with conversational agents , chatbots, or social bots. Such agents can moderate online discussions and lead to improved deliberation and consensus 14 – 16 . With these abilities, AI-powered social networks and platforms are set to become the next-generation apparatus for democratic citizenry 17 .…”

Guest Editors’ Introduction: The Challenges and Prospects of Deliberative Democracy for Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility

“…In this context, it will also be interesting how support technologies like machine learning and natural language processing can allow larger numbers of stakeholders to discuss shared problems. Shortall, Itten, van der Meer, Murukannaia, and Jinker (2022) discuss the design of digital mass deliberation platforms and highlight the need to explore if and how automated facilitation techniques can assist moderators to improve discussions, save time, and give equal voice to all stakeholders affected by an issue.…”

Inferring Values via Hybrid Intelligence

“…On the other hand, deliberation with others [9] and confronting individuals with different value systems [30] help us in discovering our own value systems. To this end, an increasing number of digital deliberation platforms have been proposed [18,34], where artificial moderating agents can facilitate large-scale deliberation [15].…”