# Collective Intelligence in Polish-Ukrainian Internet Projects. Debate Models and Research Methods
## 1 Introduction  
Collective intelligence (CI) is a phenomenon studied in multiple disciplines such as decision-making, economics, internet science, computer and web science, sociology, political science, psychology, and even biology [1]. CI is defined as a form of universal, distributed intelligence, which arises from the collaboration and competition of many individuals [2], or the general ability of a group to perform a wide variety of tasks [3]. The idea of CI entails the utilisation of interactions in communities to create solutions, concepts, and ideas; selecting between the created alternatives, refining, implementation, evaluation, and gaining feedback. All this is based on collective work and cooperation, so the studies on CI mainly focus on the question: How groups of people collaborate together in a smart way. The most promising examples of recent CI projects are combining humans and machines, organisations, and networks [4]. The concept of CI is therefore closely connected with the development of Web 2.0 and the interactions between users in online communities to create \"added value\" based on collective work and cooperation. It enables synthesis of knowledge, visualisation of arguments, open innovation, a reduction in the number of errors, competition and collective decision making. Collective intelligence frequently manifests itself when collaboration, competition, or reciprocal observation gives rise to totally new solutions to the problems that a community faces or leads to an increase in the capability to solve complex issues. Empirical studies and theoretic simulations prove that a diverse collective can,under certain conditions, achieve better results in problem solving than a narrow group of experts [5; 6; 7]. Furthermore, contemporary cognitive psychology shows that by analysing the way of thinking of a single person, we discover that this person's reasoning is largely based on the use of community of knowledge resources, and not just that person's mind. Either external resources of clustered knowledge available from experts in a given field or collective work on solutions by means of deliberation are used [8; 9; 10]. However, it is not difficult to notice that crowds, especially those gathered in online communities, can be both smart and inventive while also being irrational, biased, or overconfident. For this reason, studies on CI attempt to answer the question--in what situations and in relation to which issues can we create conditions conducive to emerging group intelligence [3; 11; 12]. Previous studies have also shown that collective work and cooperation is not only an effective method of work, but also a certain organisational culture that releases the potential of individual community members and creates relationships of interests and ties bonding the group [1; 4; 11]. The issue of CI in the public sphere, which we deal with in this article, concerns the kind of civic debate on public issues that helps in solving the problems that exist in this sphere. The public sphere, as evidenced by numerous studies [13; 14], cannot function well in atomised, broken, distrustful, and insecure societies--societies where social capital is lacking. Social capital is a term specific to social sciences that describes intergroup ties. A high quality of social capital can mean mutual trust, reciprocity, and effective cooperation, which translates into social stability and a sense of community of interests that is necessary to raise the level of debate on public matters [15]. The research described below is focused on the possibilities of emerging CI in response to the social challenges specific to Central and Eastern European communities.