EVENT

Students in Bonn Test an AI Tool for Public Debate

The Global Innovation Hub is exploring how digital tools can support transparent and inclusive public deliberation. One such tool is “Talk to the City” (T3C), an open‑source system that collects participants’ arguments, organizes them by theme and provides an overview of the discussion. After testing T3C, amongst other tools, in Taiwan with experienced and digitally confident groups, the Hub wanted to understand how the tool would function in a more typical civic environment.

This opportunity arose when Iris Müller from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s NRW office and Zoë van Doren from the Berlin office organized a student event in Bonn on the potential reintroduction of conscription. The Hub partnered with them to test the tool in practice, using a brief demonstration to show how T3C processes input, highlights common and differing positions and ensures that all voices are recorded.

On 26 November 2025, the Sektion Bonn der Junge Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik (JGSP), the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF) and the Bonner Hochschulgruppe für Außen‑ und Sicherheitspolitik (BHAS) hosted the discussion. Hauptmann Jean‑Pascal Östreich provided an overview of the policy context before participants moved into small groups to debate the ethical, social and practical implications of compulsory military service. Throughout the evening, they entered their arguments into T3C via WhatsApp. Although the automated analysis took longer than expected, the resulting overview made the structure of the debate clearer and showed how different arguments related to one another. Participants noted that this improved transparency and helped capture contributions that might otherwise remain isolated. The event brought together a diverse group of participants, which contributed to a more nuanced conversation. For the Global Innovation Hub, a key insight was that T3C was used confidently even by those with no prior experience in AI‑supported deliberation.

The Bonn test indicates that tools like T3C can make discussions more structured and transparent while still allowing for open, substantive debate. Although the technology is still developing, it already shows practical value. The Hub will continue to explore how such tools can strengthen deliberative processes and support broader participation in democratic dialogue.