News Corp’s Wall Street Journal has developed an AI tool that forecasts the issues that will shape the midterm elections.
Ahead of election day next Tuesday, the tool has ingested 25 million TikTok videos and 500,000 podcasts to gain new insight into US voters.
In a NiemanLab report, Andrew Deck says the tool, named Doppler is being used to monitor trends across the internet and to identify voter priorities, concerns, and sentiments that traditional polling might miss.
“In recent election cycles, political reporting based on voter polling has drawn criticism, prompted scrutiny, and found defenders. As the debate over the value of polling continues, the Wall Street Journal is exploring new ways to cover public opinion and break out of traditional horse race political coverage.”
The Journal published its first story using Doppler News AI – a custom tool built to help expand the publication’s midterms coverage – in late September,
“So far, Doppler has ingested more than 25 million TikTok videos, roughly 500,000 podcast episodes, and thousands of Instagram videos and cable news segments. The Journal uses the tool to monitor trends across the internet and to identify voter priorities, concerns, and sentiments that traditional polling might miss.”
Deck quotes deputy editor-in-chief Aja Whitaker-Moore that the aim is not to predict the election, but to tap into the conversations as people encounter politics through a variety of lanes.
“We’re taking a massive set of information…and telling you, from a statistical standpoint: ‘Here’s what people are talking about. Here are the questions they’re asking. Here are the places where those conversations are happening.'”
Photo: Wall Street Journal
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