Abstract

In preparation for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) plans to implement a series of infrastructure projects to improve mobility and accessibility. It is crucial to ensure that these plans and the resulting online discourse prioritize the long-term wellbeing of historically underserved communities. This project will use large language models to analyze community discourse for themes of inclusivity, accessibility, and equity. Our research will examine how the benefits and burdens of infrastructure improvements are perceived among long-term residents to inform future public releases around large-scale civic projects. We will also identify cases of hateful or toxic behavior in online discourse, especially targeted temporary Olympic tourists and athletes. We will use this analysis to develop LLM-based chatbot interventions to redirect online discourse towards prosocial, constructive dialogue that can enable community engagement in developing equitable infrastructure changes.

Field

Computer Science, Engineering

Extramural Partners

UC, Irvine School of Civil and Environmental Engineering