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IAT/ML
What is IAT/ML?
IAT/ML is a methodology for discourse analysis focusing on ontological, argumentation and agency analysis.
By using IAT/ML, you can analyse a piece of text jointly from these three points of view: ontological (what the text refers to), argumentation (how the text justifies what it says) and agency (what beliefs, desires and intentions are held by the speakers).
What is IAT/ML based on?
IAT/ML is primarily based on IAT (Inference Anchoring Theory), a well known approach to argument analysis.
The overall conceptualisation in IAT/ML, based on locutions, propositions and illocutionary forces, is taken from IAT. The "IAT/ML" name acknowledges this.
In addition, IAT/ML is based on ConML, a lightweight conceptual modelling language.
ConML establishes the foundations in IAT/ML to deal with ontologies and connect them to the argumentation.
How mature is IAT/ML?
IAT/ML is acceptably mature, especially in relation to ontological and argumentation analysis. Agency analysis is a bit les mature.
IAT/ML has been applied to multiple projects in fields such as cultural heritage, feminism and education, and has been refined thanks to the input from these eperiences.
We are commited to actively maintaining IAT/ML by fixing issues and expanding its features.
There are minor releases every 3 or 4 months.
You can see what's new in the latest release, as well as plans for future releases, in the Release History page.
IAT/ML and IAT
How are IAT/ML and IAT related?
IAT/ML is based on IAT.
The major argumentation-related building blocks in IAT/ML, such as locutions, transitions, propositions, inferences, conflicts, rephrases and illocutionary forces are taken from IAT.
If you are familiar with IAT, using IAT/ML will be extremely easy.
How is IAT/ML different from IAT?
Firstly, IAT/ML incorporates the possibility to carry out ontological and agency as well as argumentation analysis in a discourse.
This allows you to anchor what the speaker says (the argumentation) on the entities of the world they are referring to (the ontology), and the responses to critical questions on the previous two, thus providing a complete and robust analysis.
Secondly, IAT/ML supports a rich characterisation of propositions and other argumentation elements, which may be useful for certain kinds of analyses.
Finally, IAT/ML is supported by a comprehensive toolset, LogosLink.
See below for additional details on LogosLink.
LogosLink
What is LogosLink?
LogosLink is a suite of software tools that support IAT/ML, and which you can use to carry out argumentation analysis with IAT/ML.
LogosLink is distributed as a Windows application for interactive use (called LogosLink Desktop), as well as a set of libraries for software developers to integrate in their products.
Can I use LogosLink?
Yes, of course.
LogosLink is free to use for anyone and for any purpose.
Please see the LogosLink section to download and install it and get some relevant documentation.
Does LogosLink use any kind of AI or ML?
LogosLink does not employ any artificial intelligence or machine learning techniques.
Analysis under IAT/ML is fully manual, so that a human analyst must examine the text piece by piece and manually construct models by following a set of guidelines.
LogosLink helps the analyst carry out the analysis process, but no IA- or ML-related techniques are employed.
We may introduce ML-based technologies in the future.
What languages are supported by LogosLink?
At the moment, Catalan, English, Galician and Spanish are supported.
We plan to add more languages soon.
LogosLink only works on Windows, right?
Yes.
Windows is the most commonly used platform in our environment, so we decided to focus on it.
You may be able to run LogosLink on a Windows emulator on a different platform, but we can't guarantee it.
Do you have any plans to make a LogosLink version for MacOS, Linux, or other operating systems?
No.
We are not a software company but a small research lab.
Our resources are extremely limited, especially for software development.
However, if you would like to port LogosLink to another platform, contact us and we will be happy to assist.
Is LogosLink open source?
No.
LogosLink is free to use, integrate and distribute, but it's not open source for various legal reasons.
We may be able to release it as open source in the future.
Why is LogosLink only in English?
Because most of its potential users understand English.
We are aware that it would be nice to have localised versions in other languages, and we may be able to release them in the future.
If you are interested in a particular language, please let us know.
Having said this, please bear in mind that LogosLink can work with texts in languages other than English, despite its user interface being in English only.
How reliable is LogosLink? Can I rely on it for my critical project or data?
LogosLink is a relatively mature tool.
It has been used by over 25 different people for over 2500 hours in total, which means that it has been tested well beyond most software products in the research community.
Having said this, LogosLink is a research outcome, and although we believe its quality is far superior to that of most academic products, it is far from being a industry-level software system.
We work hard to make it better, but please bear in mind that you use it at your own risk.
The LogosLink libraries only work with the .NET Framework, right?
Mostly, yes.
The LogosLink libraries are .NET Framework asemblies and they are easiest to reference from .NET Framework projects.
If you are using "modern" .NET (formerly .NET Core), there are some limitations to what you can do, but they may work.
If you are using Java or other non-.NET environment, there are multiple third-party bridging tools that may help you.
Do you have any plans to port the LogosLink libraries to "modern" .NET (former .NET Core), .NET Standard, or non-.NET environments?
Yes, we do.
We are committed to transitioning towards "modern" .NET, and we hope to do this in the near future.
Regarding non-.NET environments, if you would like to port LogosLink to one of them, please contact us and we will be happy to assist.