Method
How we check an answer.
An AI model writes the answer. Before it reaches the reader, we check three things: that all the groups are there, that the people speaking work on the topic, that the words in quotation marks are the ones in the record.
The method has limits. You find them in § 6, before you use an answer.
The path of a question
From question to answer, in six steps.
Each step takes the result of the one before. The last one is a check: if a quote does not pass, it does not reach the reader.
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Rewritten question
The question is rephrased and expanded with the terms the debate really uses.
out: the question and its synonyms -
Search in the speeches
A hybrid search, by meaning and by words, finds the relevant floor speeches.
out: the candidate speeches -
Authority
For every member of Parliament who appears, we compute how much they work on the topic of this question.
out: who speaks for each group -
One section per group
The model writes a section for each group, using only that group's speeches.
out: one section per group -
Integration
The sections become a single answer, with the points of agreement and disagreement.
out: the draft answer -
Word-by-word check
Every quote is extracted by position from the original text and compared. If it does not match, we remove it.
out: only quotes that match
In the research demo a panel shows the steps of each answer, how long each one took and which calls to the model it made. It is there for people who study the system and for anyone who wants to know where a sentence comes from.
First guarantee
All groups
An answer about a debate reports the position of every group. If a group has not spoken about the topic, the answer says so.
An assistant that summarises a debate tends to follow whoever spoke the most. Small groups disappear without anyone noticing.
This guarantee asks for an absence to be stated, not decided silently by the model.
- Fascicoli gives every group its own section, even when it spoke little.
- Stenografo answers specific questions: it quotes the majority, or the Government, together with the opposition. Never one side alone.
- The Mixed Group is attributed to its component: +Europa, not «the Mixed Group».
Count the groups named in the answer and compare them with those sitting in the house. For each missing group, look for the sentence that explains why it is missing.
In the example topic, minimum wage: ten group voices and the Government
Second guarantee
Authoritative voices
For each group, the person speaking works on the topic, according to our criteria. Not whoever spoke most often in general.
Authority is computed for every question. There is no global score: someone authoritative on health may not be on taxes.
- Stenografo quotes only rapporteurs, members of the Government and the top five of each group by authority.
- If these conditions cannot be met, it prefers to quote no speech at all.
Criteria and weights are public. Anyone can recompute the ranking on the open data and compare it with the voices quoted.
Six criteria, one weighted sum
Each criterion is worth between 0 and 1 and is measured against the question. A member's score is the sum of the six, each multiplied by its weight.
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|
Time matters
Speeches and acts lose weight with age, with a half-life of 18 months (548 days). A speech from a year and a half ago is worth half of one from today.
Weight of a speech by its age
The weights are an editorial choice. We publish them so that they can be read, discussed and challenged. A different choice produces different voices, and readers should know it.
Third guarantee
Exact quotes
What is in quotation marks was said on the floor, by the person we attribute it to, in those words.
A language model tends to paraphrase even when it uses quotation marks. One changed word can change the meaning of a sentence.
- The model points to where the passage starts and ends. We take the text ourselves, by position, from the record.
- Then we compare it word for word. If it does not match, the quote is removed.
Every quote links to the official record of the Chamber or the Senate. One click is enough.
The compass, in the research demo
Where the groups stand, on that question.
The compass describes what the groups argued on the floor on a precise question. It does not certify their political position.
- For each question the system proposes two thematic axes. For the minimum wage, for example, one could go from «by law» to «by contract».
- A language model reads each retrieved speech and gives it a position between −1 and +1 on each axis. If the speech takes no position, it gets none.
- A group's position is the average of its speeches that have a position.
- When there are few speeches, the average is pulled towards the centre: two sentences are not enough to place a group.
Limits
Before you use an answer, know this.
The generated text can contain errors or omissions.
The guarantees check groups, voices and quotes. The rest of the answer is written by a model.
A relevant speech may not be retrieved.
The search finds a lot, not everything. An absence in the answer does not prove that nobody spoke about it on the floor.
An exact quote is still a choice.
The system chooses the passage and the frame. The context is in the record.
Authority depends on our weights.
With different weights, other people would speak. That is why we publish them.
It is an independent project.
It is not affiliated with the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate of the Republic, which do not endorse it and are not responsible for it.
When it matters, check the official record.
Every quote has the link. Use it.
Found an error? Write to contatti@parliamentrag.it with the link to the answer.
Sources