Polis: Large-Scale Opinion Mapping Platform

Summary

Polis is an open-source platform for gathering and analyzing public opinion at scale, using machine learning to identify areas of consensus and division within large groups. It presents participants with statements to agree or disagree with, then clusters responses to surface nuanced group dynamics. It has been used in civic engagement, democratic deliberation, and policy development contexts.

Key Points

• •Uses real-time machine learning to cluster participant opinions and visualize consensus and disagreement across large groups
• •Designed for open-ended, scalable deliberation without the toxicity of threaded comment systems
• •Has been deployed in government and civic contexts (e.g., Taiwan's vTaiwan initiative) for participatory policymaking
• •Relevant to AI governance as a tool for aggregating diverse stakeholder perspectives on complex policy questions
• •Open-source platform enabling transparent, structured public input on contentious issues