I invited him and his partner Billion to lunches to know more about them and the project. Both were graduates from National Taiwan University, my alma mater school, Johnson from the Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Department (my alma mater department), and Billion from the Political Science Department. They started their project, Cofacts(真的假的), an online platform that collects and aims to debunk misinformation through chatbot and public discourse, just a few years after coming out of school. Johnson built the website and the chatbot during his off-hours from his day job at an AI tech company, and Billion helped out on the administration and promotion sides of the operation.
Unlike a typical fact-checking website, Cofacts doesn't make quick true-or-false calls on the pieces of information brought to its attention but instead solicits public opinions that are substantiated by researched facts and rational arguments, so all can get deeper understanding and make more granular assessment on the subject matter on their own, discerning facts from mal-intents, the hidden agenda behind the half-truth, etc. To teach people what to do when encountering suspicious information and how to use tools to do research and write opinions for the site, Johnson and Billion conduct IRL (in-real-life) bimonthly training classes open and free to the public. All go towards building an open, digital civic society that they believe in hearts and practice in deeds.
As a progenitor of fact checking services in Taiwan, Cofacts' chatbot and database have been adopted by other fact-checking services and some commercial security software as their behind-the-scenes engine and earned international acclaim. During the Covid pandemic, a study by Cornell University found queries posted on Cofacts were answered more rapidly than and as accurately as answered by professionals; Billion had been invited by various pro-democracy and human rights organizations in the US and Europe to make speeches on how Taiwan could stay an open and democratic society while fighting virulent disinformation campaigns from a powerful authoritarian country across the strait.
After being like-minded comrades and co-working at Cofacts for nearly eight years, they decided to get married in December 2024. My wife and I were invited to be their guests of honor at their wedding and official witness signees on their marriage certificate application last December. The wedding was one-of-its-kind planned and conducted all by themselves. Besides the usual fun and episodic tid-bits sharing with friends and family, gratitude to their parents, exchanging of vows, they offered up tables and lecterns for their artist friends and fellow do-gooders to showcase their works and explain their projects to all their guests. Personal welfare and social welfare do always mix, in their case.
Long live their marriage, and long live Cofacts!!
