DARPA - Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunity: Civil Sanctuary (2021)

Introduction

Social media platforms have the potential to be a great democratizing force, allowing individuals to participate in the free and productive sharing of ideas at a scale never before encountered in human history. During emergency situations and times of turmoil, these platforms can provide a crucial forum for discussing time-sensitive, potentially life-saving information. During DoD Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HA/DR) operations, relief efforts would benefit from a stable and constructive information environment that naturally facilitates informative dialogue. However, rather than aiding users in finding peaceable common ground, online social environments worldwide often fall prey to disinformation, bullying, and malicious rhetoric, which may be perpetuated through broader social dynamics linked to toxic and uncritical group conformity. New technologies are required to preserve and promote the positive factors of engagement in online discourse while minimizing the risk of negative social and psychological impacts emerging from violations of platform community guidelines.