Advanced Statistical Analysis System for Mass Opinion

By Anthony Matarazzo

The web’s effect on culture and society are extremely noticeable, and it has produced an almost symbiotic relationship with knowledge and its dissemination of. Many movies and science fiction films have been spawned by it. It has changed the music business forever. The web is a communication medium. However, it is communication that essentially prevents physical conflict and the web does this by its medium. It is when the physical world collides that brings about the human id’s darkest moments – War.

 

I propose that by using Natural Language Processing in conjunction with current web technologies such as email, a world wide distributed system can be facilitated that allows data mining of opinions from a large global public audience. This system, in the correct hands, can empower changes that are wanted by many. As well, by allowing the free flow of information and completing a reaction to this opinion within the global environment it may replace the physical need for negative physical actions such as war. It is most important that the system be a driver of sorts as the completion of a reaction is important. Methods to modify opinion are necessary when physical contact occurs.

 

War will be replaced by words, discussion, documents, videos, interactive proportioned to country's abilities and audio. Up until this point in our society we have not had a technological means to allow global interaction in a high speed way and opinions to be gathered. The right tools and platforms exist today. The world’s top computer scientists should build a system that the United Nations can employ immediately.

 

It is a difficult engineering project however not impossible. Obviously, one of the most difficult feats will be the data mining portion that extrapolates opinion information and links in a concentric realm of understanding translated ideas and supporting arguments behind each document’s content together. Simply put it will be a categorization process performed for many levels of weighted contexts. It will form a massive relational database that can be queried and mined at multiple levels for statistics. These statistics should be used by the facilitating entities to empower the masses.

 

Advanced planning is needed to provide proper operation, security and integrity of the system. And with this several questions raised like: Do users of the system get more than one input per day? Should there be a limit on the number of words in the document to allow greater accuracy of current AI methodologies. How does limiting the word space modify the communication effectiveness? Could a secondary method exist that allows the user an overview section that will be used for categorization and details section? Can formatting input of the user through interface design aid greatly in the effectiveness of the categorization? Could a database of known ideas be utilized to give accuracy in the weight. Should the system accept audio and video signals as well, because they can be transcribed, perhaps even by voice recognition. How much Historical information should be kept? While in our society we have freedom of expression, how would the system affect other societies? Should the information be public domain for media resources to devour and how does this modify the user’s perception of topic scaling, that is, using exaggeration for the sway?

 

Blog boards are how this is currently manifested for the masses yet there is no automated and centralized system for opinion mining. I use the word “opinion” very grotesquely and to mean all topics for discussion. Typically blog boards are specialized in their subject’s content. Users log into their board of choice and push their information out. Other users can search for information they would like to read about. And it is in the reading that the change occurs. Yet typically large bodied entities like the United Nations would not find an effective means to digest such individualistic information. And this is where a system using natural language processing will perform exceedingly well. It will allow many people to speak to the educated elite and or rich in a clean fashion so that personal dislikes are set a side.

 

A national system should also exist in each country that allows interaction within the boundaries of state. It should deliver the information to the proper mining network be it global, national, regional, statewide, or city so that the reaction is at the appropriate level. For example several users driving on I5 interstate may report that the road conditions are bad and that is a state problem. Other users may write about education funding requirements or lack thereof so that may be federal or state related. While others may write about human rights violations and that is an international issue. Needless to say, information routing is a very important factor in the success of such a system. It is my opinion it should not be a soft Artificial Intelligence choice but rather one selected from a list of entities.

 

In conclusion, a centralized website needs to exist that allows freeform opinions to be input, its dissemination and then facilitate a reaction. The website and its contents should be utilized as a statistical tool that can form and drive governmental or facilitating bodies to reactive activities. It is the want of any agency such as the United States government or United Nations to enforce laws and provide freedom for its citizens. With the number of persons in the world quickly out weighing the select few in positions of power, a system like this can be a way for many to be heard. And I believe in the end, both society and government will be happier because they worked more effectively together as a team. A system like this must be implemented and promoted in such a way that allows each individual to trust the integrity or their input and perhaps trace the categorization process. A Globally Advanced Statistical Analysis System for Mass Opinion is the way to go for the peaceful connection of world wide societies.