Re: Recommendation / Help Needed

Andre,
All,

For discussion, some more ideas to empower consumers, enable better economic decision-making, and reinvigorate journalism ecosystems (discussed in group previously) involve considering how AI-enhanced technologies could intelligently route information from publishers to subscribers, from producers to consumers.

Instead of people (or their designated AI agents) having to visit websites, to search, or to ask questions ("pull"), AI-enhanced services could route fresh news articles ("push") to people's client-side apps (or virtual-assistant AI agents) which could collate these into newspaper-like, multi-section, paginated layouts for their morning, otherwise daily, and/or weekly consumption while being capable of alerting or otherwise instantly notifying them in events of matters of urgent interest. With respect to business models, these "composite newspapers" could provide advertisements; portions of advertising revenues could flow to individual news articles' authors, to journalists and journalism organizations.

With respect to open government and civic technology, the public sector produces and publishes a vast quantity of important documents, reports, and datasets. These published public documents and data could, similarly, be intelligently routed. There might not be as clear of business models, however, for receiving, processing, routing, and transmitting these public-sector documents and data to interested government personnel, citizens, journalists, and watchdog organizations.

Unfolding research and development into news recommendation systems, including newly possible AI-related approaches, may provide secondary benefits pertaining to open government and civic technology.


Best regards,
Adam

________________________________
From: Andre Beckford <andrebeckford@icloud.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2024 3:44 PM
To: Adam Sobieski <adamsobieski@hotmail.com>
Cc: public-civics@w3.org <public-civics@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Recommendation / Help Needed


Hello Adam,



Yes, that’s essentially the case! In addition, I want the data presented in layman’s terms to raise awareness of how much money is spent by various demographics and whether those industries or corporations align with the social values of their customers—such as employment diversity and ethical practices.



The goal is to ensure the data can drive informed consumer choices and inspire action, especially when it comes to investments in 401Ks or pension funds. Many of these funds may inadvertently support companies with unethical practices or those that back anti-democratic candidates or policies. This could include steering investments towards more socially responsible alternatives.



I definitely see alignment with the topics you listed—[1], [3], [4], [5], and [6] resonate particularly well with Civic Titans goals. I’m excited about the possibilities you mentioned, like the idea of a mobile app or browser extension to help consumers make better economic decisions. That could be a game-changer in terms of consumer empowerment.



I really appreciate your interest and am open to any advice or collaboration as I continue to refine these ideas.




Thank you!

Andre Beckford
Sent from my iPad

On Oct 22, 2024, at 8:40 AM, Adam Sobieski <adamsobieski@hotmail.com> wrote:


Andre,

Hello. If I understand correctly, you're exploring uses of artificial-intelligence, productivity, and analytics tools and technologies to process vast quantities of data from many sources to better inform people, consumers and investors, with respect to [1][2][3][4][5] and, possibly, [6]?

I am eager to learn more about Civic Titans projects and to be of assistance.


Best regards,
Adam

P.S.: Imagine if people could use their smartphones to scan universal product codes on items to receive configurable, personalized information to be more aware consumers and to make better economic decisions (e.g., [6]). However, for online shopping scenarios, such a service might also be in the form of a browser extension.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_activism

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_voting

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_activism

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_consumerism

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_investing

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_capitalism


________________________________
From: Andre Beckford <andrebeckford@icloud.com>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 12:53 PM
To: public-civics@w3.org <public-civics@w3.org>
Subject: Recommendation / Help Needed

Hello Civic Technology Community Group,

My name is Andre Beckford, and I’m working on a project called Civic Titans (www.civictitans.org<http://www.civictitans.org/>). I’m looking for feedback, recommendations and help with automating the collection of public data from sources like the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Nielsen Reports, the U.S. Census Bureau, Pew Research Center and more. I’m particularly interested in using AI-powered tools such as web scrapers and visualization platforms like Tableau or Power BI. I want to present the data in layman’s terms like using visual charts, infographics and storytelling.

Examples of the data I would like to present is showcasing consumer spending data broken down by demographic, highlighting spending categories like entertainment, food, housing, and more. I also want to draw connection between political influence by showing voting participation rates across demographics at federal, state, and local levels, as well as elected officials from African American communities compared to others.

Additionally, I aim to explore investment trends—specifically, how much is funneled into 401(k)s, pension funds, and personal accounts that may support corporations misaligned with our values. My goal is to demonstrate how economic choices can serve as both influence and activism. I look forward to receiving any feedback or help from the group in achieving this!


Thank you!

Andre Beckford