Chausson, Sandrine and Saadat-Yazdi, Ameer and Li, Xue and Pan, Jeff Z. and Belle, Vaishak and Kökciyan, Nadin and Ross, Björn

Abstract:

Individuals engage in arguments on an everyday basis as they seek to obtain information about current affairs and engage with social media. While fact-checkers are available to help dispel misinformation, it is almost impossible for users to verify every single claim they encounter. This means that oftentimes, it is left to the user to decide whether a claim is well supported. To address this, we have developed a Web interface that allows users to input an argument, and our developed framework automatically detects its validity (soundness of logical deduction) and novelty (whether the argument is non-circular). Our Web-based tool could be used by social media users who wish to evaluate the information they consume. As part of one of the modules developed at the University of Edinburgh, our tool will be deployed as a teaching tool for the students who study argumentation.