Before I begin, thank you to everyone who joined my Zoom session last night to learn more about the Truth Matters Project and ask questions.
I was anxious all day about coming out from behind the comfort blanket of my writing to speak on a public stage. I can’t thank attendees enough for making me feel so comfortable and at ease. This project has involved taking a risk, and I just needed a little reassurance that I am onto something. Thanks to those who attended, I left feeling ‘fired up, ready to go,’ as Barack Obama once said.
The session ran long, probably because I couldn’t shut up; verbosity is a nervous tic of mine, I’m afraid. I took away some important lessons from the session about trying to concentrate on a chat window while giving a presentation, etc. I’ll do better next time at managing that (he said sheepishly).
What I learned is that this project can significantly benefit the political conversation, and if it’s structured the right way, it could become an important go-to tool in this existential fight to preserve democracy. To be clear, I am not pretending to have all the answers, but I do believe I have the answer to the central issue: the need for a trusted space where people can easily find the facts. This, in turn, should help people make more informed decisions about how to best engage with politics.
I don’t want to bore you by rehashing the same old ground, so I won’t. The time for talking is over; I need to move into delivery now. As I’ve explained previously, I didn’t expect to get this far so quickly. I think it’s important to help people understand what the system can do and how it adds value at election time. Once we bake in early voting and polling-location information, it can deliver real value. We haven't fully baked this into the system yet because of time constraints. However, it gives a flavour of what the system can deliver.
The key this week is to give people hands-on experience, and that starts tomorrow. The system is broken into modules, and this week I’ll provide access as they become available, so you can take a look. Each release will include a feedback section where you can share comments and thoughts. I will then analyse the feedback with Anthropic’s Claude to categorise replies and feed them into our design conversation.
One thing I need to make very clear: this is not a design-by-committee project; not all feedback will make the cut, and ultimately I will have the final say on the application deliverables. That said, this shouldn't discourage people from providing feedback, because it's at the heart of what I do. Rest assured, if you have a creative idea that makes the cut, you'll get full attribution for your contribution.
So, I will begin tomorrow with THE LIBRARY. This repository will eventually feature the writing of those who should be heard. Those whose voices get buried among the many Substack writers. This initial preview will include a searchable library of all my posts over the last 18 months. It will give people a chance not only to explore my work from the beginning, but also to get a feel for how the site operates and the methodology used to ensure content is fact-checked.
Obviously, I have an extensive back catalogue of work, and I’m doing another fact-check pass on pieces in the library's featured section. I will add any contextual amendments or corrections on a rolling basis. While I’m pretty confident there are no glaring mistakes, it's still a worthwhile exercise, since posts are featured.
The posts stay in sync with my Substack library. I want you to view this as my content library, but it’s also built to take in other Substack publications or individual pieces from other places. This will hopefully extend other writers' reach, too. I’m simply putting it in front of you, with hundreds of posts I have produced since I first came to Substack. It’s a good test of how it works.
You’ll also be able to hear some of my pieces narrated by a professional-quality clone of my own voice; the narration will deliver ONLY MY WORDS, no summaries or AI rewrites, just my words as I wrote them. The audio quality is excellent, delivered the way I would read it if I didn’t have to stop every two minutes trying to read it in one take. In addition to the English-language narration, there’s also a Spanish version in my voice. You likely won’t be able to hear that tomorrow, since a Spanish speaker needs to check the output and fix any errors.
Because my AI voice clone narrates my words, you will see a purple indicator, part of the site branding, to indicate where AI plays a role in information delivery. You’ll also see “How this works” links dotted around the site; clicking any one will show the methodology used to deliver the information. There will be no room for confusion, and transparency will ALWAYS be at the very heart of the system. I'll publish the first link around 5 pm UK (12 noon ET) tomorrow.
The evening before the next link is published, I’ll post a short note explaining the next demo piece; this process will continue with daily updates for those who want to receive them. To sign up for updates, email info@truthmatters.org.uk with the subject ‘TM Count me in’. You’ll then start receiving updates. You can stop at any time by replying “stop”. Your address is used only for these updates, is never shared, and this is separate from your Substack subscription.
I'll save the best demo for last, which will go out on Thursday; if you watch nothing else, watch that. For broader feedback, I’d like to host a weekly Zoom to hear observations and answer questions from people's hands-on experience with the system. I’m open to suggestions on what day and time work best, so do let me know. One thing that came up last night was building a community around the project, which I think is worth discussing further. Maybe we should do another Zoom session this coming weekend? We can choose a time that works best for everyone.
Come what may, this is happening; I’m all in, and I’m prepared to die on this hill. I have every confidence that this can deliver, but as I’ve said for the past week or so, I can’t do it all on my own. The question is, are you up for it? This is a true opportunity to move the dial.
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You know my position.
Go get.
looking forward