14 DAY TRIAL // Google's parent company Alphabet is fighting against online trolls with a new AI tool called "Perspective," which provides a way for news websites and blogs to better moderate online discussions.
The company seems to believe that enough is enough and that it can turn the table on Internet trolls, which, as everyone knows, is not the best breed of humans. Alphabet wants to pull online forums from the dark cesspool they've ended up in, full of hatred, stupidity, and bigotry.
"Perspective is an API that makes it easier to host better conversations. The API uses machine learning models to score the perceived impact a comment might have on a conversation. Developers and publishers can use this score to give realtime feedback to commenters or help moderators do their job, or allow readers to more easily find relevant information, as illustrated in two experiments below. We’ll be releasing more machine learning models later in the year, but our first model identifies whether a comment could be perceived as 'toxic' to a discussion," they explain how the new tool can be put to use.
No room for toxicity
The tool was created by the AI experts over at Jigsaw, a subsidiary of Alphabet. They claim that Perspective can decide if an online comment is "toxic" without the aid of human moderators.
"Imagine trying to have a conversation with your friends about the news you read this morning, but every time you said something, someone shouted in your face, called you a nasty name or accused you of some awful crime. We think technology can help," said Jared Cohen, Jigsaw founder and president.
The tool uses a rating system that reports how "toxic" a given comment is. It lets users and publishers choose a threshold for comments that won't be displayed publicly. While heated discussions are more than welcome, calling people names for having an opinion one way or another will mark that comment as "toxic." The same can be said for comments that bring nothing to the discussion.
The selection system is extremely simple, and it involves a slider which lets you decide just what quality of comments you want to read.
At this moment, Perspective can help comb out the toxic comments, but more features are to be added. In the coming year, Jigsaw wants to give it the capacity to screen for off-topic comments, or ones that lack substance.