The dream of free dissemination of knowledge seems to be stranded in a swamp of tangled truth. Fake news proliferates. Digital echo chambers confirm biases. Even basic facts seem hard to be agreed upon. So is there hope in the battle to clean up this mess?

​Yes! Many efforts are made within the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) research area to find software solutions. Learn more about it at our morning session, focusing on automated fact-checking, both in research and practice.

DATE: 18 November 2021

TIME: 09:45–12:00 CET

LOCATION: Online or at Lingsalen, Studenternas Hus, Götabergsgatan 17 ​(Registration link below).

Note! The physical seminar is only for students and staff at Chalmers and University of Gothenburg.

AGENDA

09:45 Introduction 

Erik Ström, Director, Information and Communications Technology Area of Advance

10:00 Looking for the truth in the post-truth era

Ivan Koychev, University of Sofia, Bulgaria. He gives a brief overview of automatically finding the claims and facts in texts along with confirmation or refutation.

10:30 Computational Fact-Checking for Textual Claims

Paolo Papotti, Associate Professor, EURECOM, France. He will cover the opportunities and limitations of computational fact-checking and its role in fighting misinformation. He will also give examples from the “infodemic” associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

11:00 Pause

11:10 Panel discussion. 

In the panel:

• Moderator Graham Kemp, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers.
• Sheila Galt, retired professor of Applied Electromagnetics, Chalmers. Engaged researcher in the Swedish Skeptics Association (Vetenskap och Folkbildning, VoF) for many years.
• Bengt Johansson, professor in Journalism, University of Gothenburg. He has a strong focus on the field of media, power, and democracy.
• Jenny Wiik, researcher and project leader for Media & Democracy. Her research is looking into, e.g., automation of journalism.
• The keynotes, Ivan Koychev and Paolo Papotti are also part of the discussion.

12:00 The end​

Chalmers ICT Area of Advance arranges this event as part of the Act Sustainable week.