Augmented Democratic Deliberation: Can Conversational Agents Boost Deliberation in Social Media?

Abstract

**Read paper on the following link:** https://ifaamas.org/Proceedings/aamas2022/pdfs/p1794.pdf **Abstract:** Online social media are being perceived as the new means that provide a platform of participation among citizens who are led to alternative spaces of political expression when traditional channels are strained. New technologies appear to have a transformational potential that can lead to social change and achieve deeper and wider mobilisation and participation in political processes. However, people are still facing challenges when seeking information, disseminating information, and engaging in online deliberation. Allowing every citizen to participate in the discussions and influence the final decision requires countless interactions that take considerable amounts of energy and time and could be cognitively demanding due to linguistic barriers or when the problems on the table are multidisciplinary. We envision in this blue sky paper that autonomous conversational agents could augment the deliberative capacities of citizens in online social media. To implement our vision, we will start by proposing an approach that quantifies deliberation in online discussions. Then, we will suggest an agent-based methodology to optimise deliberation across various discussion spaces. The suggested idea will pave the way to a form of democratic deliberation that is built on the cooperation of humans and agents to shape the future of democracy.