argumentative discussions on the web ifip 2012-10-13

Copyright 2011 Digital Enterprise Research Institute. All rights reserved.

Digital Enterprise Research Institute www.deri.ie

Enabling Networked Knowledge

Argumentative Discussions on the Web

Jodi SchneiderDigital Enterprise Research Institute, NUI Galway

Social Networking Semantics and Collective Intelligence working group, International Federation for Information Processing.

Galway, Ireland Saturday 13 th October 2012

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Argumentation is everywhere!



Argumentation is everywhere!

April 20, 2012London Argumentation Forum



Identifying arguments is hard.

7,000 hours[Metzinger 1999]



Approaches

User support Logical formalisms Theoretical approaches

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User Support



Example problems

Issue a press release responding to Tweet complaints Decide whether to delete a Wikipedia article Based on reviews, determine controversial product

features that customers both like & dislike.

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Represent Twitter complaints.

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Jodi Schneider

Make sense of deletion discussions

Deletion Discussions in Wikipedia: Decision Factors and OutcomesJodi Schneider, Alexandre Passant & Stefan Decker

WikiSym 2012

Factor Example (used to justify `keep')

Notability Anyone covered by another encyclopedic reference is considered notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia.

Sources Basic information about this album at a minimum is certainly verifiable, it's a major label release, and a highly notable band.

Maintenance …this article is savable but at its current state, needs a lot of improvement.

Bias It is by no means spam (it does not promote the products).

Other I'm advocating a blanket "hangon" for all articles on newly- drafted players

Deletion Discussions in Wikipedia: Decision Factors and OutcomesJodi Schneider, Alexandre Passant & Stefan Decker

WikiSym 2012

Decision Factors for Deleting Articles in Wikipedia

Alternative Interfaces for Deletion Discussions in Wikipedia: Some Proposals Using Decision Factors. [Demo]” Jodi Schneider and Krystian Samp WikiSym2012



Find argumentation in reviews

Highlight terms: Premises, Positive sentiment, Domain properties

Semi-Automated Argumentative Analysis of Online Product ReviewsAdam Wyner, Jodi Schneider, Katie Atkinson and Trevor Bench-Capon

COMMA 2012

Annotate possible arguments

Identifying Consumers' Arguments in TextJodi Schneider & Adam Wyner,

SWAIE at EKAW 2012

Find arguments by searching annotations

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Don’t need flash


SWAIE at EKAW 2012

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Flash badly placed

Identifying Consumers' Arguments in TextJodi Schneider & Adam Wyner

SWAIE at EKAW 2012



Simple Reasoning Pattern

Premises: The Canon SX220 has good video quality. Good video quality promotes image

quality for casual photographers.

Conclusion: Casual photographers should buy the

Canon SX220.

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SWAIE at EKAW 2012



Argumentation Scheme

Premises: The <camera> has <feature>. <feature> promotes <user value> for <user

class>.

Conclusion: <user class> should <e-commerce action>

the <camera>. <e-commerce action>: buy, not buy, sell, return, …

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SWAIE at EKAW 2012



Variables as Targets for Information Extraction

<camera><property><user value><user type><e-commerce action>

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Identifying Consumers' Arguments in TextJodi Schneider & Adam Wyner, SWAIE at EKAW 2012



Logical formalisms

Argumentation Schemes Argument Frameworks Assumption-based, Admissible Argumentation (ABBA)



Formal Representations

Argumentation Schemes Appeal to Expert Opinion Appeal to Popular Opinion From Analogy Slippery Slope ....

Indicate Relevant “Critical Questions” for a discussion Patterns for Information Extraction

(Amazon examples - SWAIE 2012)

John Danaher, http://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.ie/2010/03/argumentation-schemes-part-1.html


SWAIE at EKAW 2012

Search annotations to fill slots in argumentation scheme



Argumentation Frameworks

Example

Variety of Semantics – can be used to choose best options Dung 1995



Transform Debates into Argument Frameworks

(1) Households should pay tax for their garbage.

(4) (1) Paying tax for garbage increases recycling, so households should pay.

(3) (1)Recycling more is good, so people

should pay tax for their garbage.

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Arrow: premise

Wyner, van Engers, & BahreiniFrom Policy-making Statements to First-order Logic. EGOV 2010



Calculate best options (non-contradictory opinions)

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Wyner, van Engers, & Bahreini. From Policy-making Statements to First-order Logic. EGOV 2010



Assumption-based, Admissible Argumentation

Deductive system with inference rules Assumptions “Backward argument” – Argument Tree

Reasoning on the Web with Assumption-Based ArgumentationFrancesca ToniReasoning Web Summer School



From a Facebook thread to logic

Toni & TorroniBottom-Up ArgumentationTAFFA 2011

Comment “This is what my kitchen tap used to look like…”

Opinion “Separate taps are common in GB”

Links “This is what my kitchen tap used to look like…”

supports “Separate taps are common in GB”




Map the conversation




objectsTo link

Links “Separate taps are inconvenient because they freeze/ burn hands”

objectsTo “Separate taps are not inconvenient as basin solves temperature problem”




Logical framework

Assumption-Based Argumentation basedOn(o3) ← c2, l_3_2

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Logical framework

Assumption-Based Argumentation alink(l_4_17,o4,o17)

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Theories

Popularity isn’t everything Walton & Krabbe’s Dialogue Types Dimensions of Argumentative Expression



Numbers aren’t everything

overwhelming numbers of people may not matter

Photograph DAVID GILES/PA NEWS WIRE/AP PHOTO - February 7, 2011 New Yorker via http://www.vincentskeltis.com/blog/2011/2/7/crowd-crush.html

Dimensions of Argumentation in Social MediaJodi Schneider, Brian Davis, and Adam WynerEKAW 2012



What’s the Support?

The overall popularity of an opinion is not as important as the reasons supporting it

Image: http://www.nickmilton.com/2012/03/when-people-trust-crowds.html




Discussion purpose: Walton & Krabbe’s dialogue types

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Commitment in Dialogue: Basic Concepts of Interpersonal ReasoningWalton & Krabbe1995



Dimensions of (Argumentative) Expression

Genre Metadata Properties of users Goals of a particular dialogue Context Informal language Implicit info Sentiment techniques Subjectivity and objectivity




Acknowledgments

Thanks to our collaborators! Katie Atkinson, Trevor Bench-Capon, Adam Wyner (Liverpool) DERI Social Software Unit & others Rhetorical Structure Taskforce, W3C Health Care/Life Sciences

My Funding Science Foundation Ireland Grant No. SFI/08/CE/I1380 (Líon-2) Short-term scientific mission (STSM 1868) from the COST Action

ICO801 on Agreement Technologies SFI Short Term Travel Fellowship

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Thanks!

Questions?

Jodi Schneider

[email protected]

@jschneider

mailto:[email protected]



45http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Heath_Totten



Arguments

Claim: does not merit an articleJustification: hasn’t played

since 2008, mediocre record

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argumentative discussions on the web ifip 2012-10-13

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