A Cauldron of Ideas to Fight Misinformation
A new app combines peer-reviewed posts, crypto micropayments, AI, and blockchain technology to verify what’s going on in Ukraine.
In 2024, Nessa Kiani was a research data scientist at the University of California, Irvine, spending her free time building an online tool that would debunk medical misinformation. Then she realized the tool could be used to verify and share information of all sorts—and she decided to turn her focus toward conflict zones, starting with the war in Ukraine. Now, at twenty-four, she is the founder of an app called Culldron—a mix of peer-reviewed posts, crypto micropayments, AI-generated content, and blockchain technology whose aim is to provide accurate information to people living through war. The name refers both to the “culling” of information and to the platform’s cauldron of ideas. “It’s almost like an experiment,” Kiani said.
Culldron, which launched last month, pays people small amounts of crypto, worth up to a tenth of a cent per interaction, to share and verify news about Ukraine, such as air raid alerts and drone sightings. The app validates this crowdsourced information using a peer-review system—sort of like X’s Community Notes for a war zone. People seeking specific information—maybe refugees wondering about the fate of their neighborhood after a bombing—can also offer a “bounty” of any amount to solicit that information. Culldron then makes and shares AI-generated videos, podcasts, and articles based on verified posts.
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