Enabling Better Data Collection with AI

Nobody likes filling out forms, especially when the requested information is not obvious.

One thing we have noticed is that users have a hard time deciding what tags/keywords to use to describe their data. For example, when asking them to tag their data, they will often use a single word or phrase that is not descriptive enough to capture the full scope of the data. This is not very helpful for anyone who wants to be able to search for it.

For example, a user creating an offer for a good or service might tag their data with “food” or “restaurant”, but this is too general. Ideally, we would like to prompt the user to provide a more descriptive tag like “Mexican food” or “Italian restaurant”, along with other tags that are specific to the offer like “spicy” or “gluten-free”, etc.

We have been thinking about how to improve this experience. One idea we had is to use AI to provide better tags and then prompt users to verify them.

To test this out, we built a simple prototype that uses AI and we modelled it on a subset of the offers and wants schema we built for Murmurations. You can try it out here:
https://ow1.ic3.dev/

The prototype uses the Google Gemini AI model to generate tags based on the title and description of the offer or want. It then prompts the user to provide better tags.

We were impressed with the quality of the tags generated by the AI. Some examples of the title and description text we entered and the tags generated by the AI are:

Title:
Free wire and cables
Description:
I have all sorts of copper wire and other types of electrical cables to give away. Also, a bunch of rechargeable batteries that are still usable.
AI-Generated Tags:
free wire cables, copper wire, electrical cables, rechargeable batteries

Title:
Tool box with 20+ tools to give away
Description:
It has several screwdrivers, wrenches and other stuff I don’t know the name for. Everything in good condition if not almost like new.
AI-Generated Tags:
tool box, tools, screwdrivers, wrenches, free, giveaway, used tools, good condition

Title:
Award-winning organic beer made in Paris
Description:
All of our brews are made with 100% natural certified organic ingredients sourced from France. Try our amber, pilsner and IPA or our seasonal brews which change throughout the year. Get pints fresh from the tap at our brew pub or buy bottles and cans to take home (or to a party!).
AI-Generated Tags:
award-winning organic beer, Parisian beer, organic ingredients, French ingredients, amber beer, pilsner, IPA, seasonal beer, brew pub, bottles, cans, pints, take-away beer

By making the tags selectable and enabling the user to add more tags, we can prompt the user to provide better tags. They already get a good start with the AI-generated tags, but they can add addtional or edit existing tags to make it more specific, or remove any tags that are not relevant. Even if they don’t add any tags, the AI-generated tags are almost always better than the single word or phrase that they would have entered otherwise!

We are excited about the potential of using AI to improve the user experience for data entry, and we will definitely be integrating this into the data collection tools we are building for Murmurations in the future.