The understanding of complex systems, the latest AI techniques and the tools for automatic text generation and analysis offer the possibility to have a direct impact on the information dynamics.
In this framework, Lab4news aims to create an information ecosystem that is more usable for readers and more sustainable for the players in the field, applying scientific and technological innovation to the world of information and proposing operational solutions and prototypes.
To date, Lab4news participates in various initiatives and projects together with national and international entities to build an open dialogue and to define together a research path for advanced scientific and technological solutions.
What we do
The semantic space of news is the representation of the universe in which readers and journalists contribute to the public discourse. Large news datasets can be represented, navigated and exploited in such a new way by all players in the game. Journalists and publishers populate this space by generating new content, offering insights and analyzes that can lead the debate and generate new narratives. The verification of these contents can take place through new technologies facilitating the exploration of similar news, also summarizing them with meaningful words, and adapting to the search path carried out by the professional user.
The news space also offers readers a panorama to explore specific issues and find out about the current context. The vastness of the content, often mediated by online platforms, is filtered in accordance with the relevance with the search – or attention – of the individual user, producing agile but polarizing experiences. New technologies are therefore necessary to improve the user experience with new content, promoting awareness of the plurality of voices in the public debate and the dissolution of the echo chambers
The polarization of the public debate and the divisiveness of the contents are increasingly becoming the real danger to the health of the information ecosystem. Through the analysis of social networks and user engagement, it is possible to identify and neutralize some particular dynamics before they lead to phenomena such as hate speech and the spread of disinformation.
The market of information is ruled by a delicate and always changing balance of the demand and supply of newspapers by readers, and it is often mediated by dissemination through social media. In this context, disinformation also acts as a competitor of the “mainstream” aiming at filling in the gaps and attacking its fragility. It is therefore crucial to promptly identify these vulnerabilities, in order to prevent the creation of disinformation.