What is Knowledge Credibility

Introduction

Knowledge credibility is a measurement of the probability of correctness or infallibility of an individual, an organization of individuals (such as those at a company), or software (such as AI) when they provide a statement, make a decision, or deliver work within a domain of knowledge.

Although it is related to truth, knowledge credibility is not a direct measurement of information truth nor information credibility. In other words, someone may have excellent knowledge credibility, but it does not necessarily mean the information they have provided is true. Rather, it indicates the likelihood of the information being true.

The study of what constitutes knowledge, known as epistemology, is a deep and complex subject that has been debated since the time of ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. The Greeks described credibility as “ethos,’ a word meaning custom, habit, or character, which is also the root of the English word “ethics.” According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, credibility is defined as “the quality that somebody or something has that makes people believe or trust them.” This definition underscores the importance of credibility evaluation in assessing the trustworthiness of information, especially in contexts like the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Significance of Knowledge Credibility

Knowledge credibility has an impact on many areas including personal development and professional growth, where it is essential to establish credibility by sharing personal qualifications and experiences. It improves integrity in academia for research, creation of knowledge, and makes plagiarism more difficult. And of particular importance in this day and age, it is a highly needed attribute in the fight against fake news.

Personal Development and Professional Growth

For individuals, knowledge credibility is critical for personal development and professional growth. Knowledge Credibility helps to establish trust, and allows others to see the value you bring. In the past, unfair arbitrary demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, and race, would significantly influence how knowledge credibility was perceived making it difficult for many qualified individuals to get ahead. With it, individuals are more effective in communications, find it easier to have significant impact, and thus are seen as more successful. Advancement comes faster, and the ability to move laterally between companies is easier. With success, a professional has more opportunities, faster advancement, and higher pay. This leads to a better economic position for housing, food, travel, entertainment, and health care. In contrast, asking for a raise or brokering a business deal without knowledge credibility goes nowhere.

Credentials and expertise are frequently controlled by the industries that benefit from them, and often by the entity or individual that holds the most authority. Without a non-partisan broker, the system has no standards for credentials between institutions or between disparate industries. Credentials may be given or withheld from individuals making the individuals vulnerable to those arbitrary variables such as race or gender, and further vulnerable to influence for political, economic, or personal gain.

Academic and Research Integrity

In academia and research, knowledge credibility is paramount. Researchers and industry rely on credible sources and previous research to build upon existing knowledge, develop new theories, and make scientific advancements. The integrity of academic work depends on its accuracy, reliability, and completeness. Plagiarism, data fabrication, and other unethical practices not only erode the integrity of academia to industry and the public. It also undermines the will of researchers who do not receive recognition for their efforts, and in the case of the offender, their integrity is stained once discovered.

Public Trust in Media and Institutions: Combating Fake News

Media credibility significantly affects public trust in the media and its institution. In current times, where media companies have been purchased by investment firms and the very wealthy, the media has become overt in their efforts to sway public opinion with inaccurate, or incomplete truths. They no longer maintain an unbiased position particularly in politics. Inaccurate and biased reporting leads to public skepticism and a decline in trust. This erosion has far-reaching consequences, influencing public opinion, policy decisions, and societal cohesion. Fletcher and Park (2017) emphasized, “Ensuring that media outlets and institutions uphold high standards of knowledge credibility is essential for maintaining an informed and engaged citizenry.” Sensationalism and ulterior motives undermines civil peace, the ability to conduct business, and drives civil unrest.

Factors Influencing Knowledge Credibility

There are many independent variables that influence an individual or entity's knowledge credibility. Do they have authority or expertise, and how have they acquired that knowledge? Have they created knowledge and if so, what do other experts say about it? And if they’ve created knowledge, do their critics continue to ask hard questions?

Source Expertise and Source Credibility

One of the primary factors influencing knowledge credibility is the expertise of the source. A sources prior knowledge is crucial to understanding their credibility. Experts who have extensive knowledge, experience, and credentials in their field are more likely to produce credible information. Goldman (2001) states, “Verifying the qualifications and background of the source is a critical step in assessing the credibility of information.” When people are the source, it is important to know that the individual or company has expertise in the subject area. Of further importance is how the source knows about the subject. For example, does he know about the subject independent of experience or ‘a-priori’ or through experience ‘post-priori’. In Personal Knowledge, Polanyi (1962) discusses knowing how to ride a bike. Essentially, do they know how to ride a bicycle because they have studied the theoretical knowledge of the physics involved in maintaining a state of balance, because they have ridden one, or both. Did the individual conduct or witness the event or research or are they reporting it second hand. Further, what are the requirements. To be a witness to an event and report it may only require common knowledge. Yet to provide expertise, do they need to know through experience, through an understanding of theory, or both. For example, to provide expertise on how to hit a baseball, one would likely want to hear it from a someone with experience,

and not a physicist who is purely an academic. If one wants to know about playing baseball on Mars, it will require someone who understands theory or both.

Creation of knowledge

Creating reliable information that is needed by others helps to demonstrate that one possesses knowledge. But there are many problems with this. Articles may be generated by AI’s. In fact, this article was started using ChatGPT 4o. It even gave a decent response and to our surprise, it provided KnoCScore as a technology solution. Not surprisingly, it provided a shallow answer at about a sophomoric level of writing. Posting an article written by AI certainly does not provide an actual representative of the authors knowledge. However, creating accurate and thorough knowledge is certainly a factor that influences knowledge credibility.

When authors use accountability mechanisms such as peer reviews, it helps establish their authority within a domain of knowledge. In academic publishing, peer reviews help ensure that information meets established standards of quality and accuracy. Peer reviews with defended criticisms demonstrate that the information has been scrutinized and validated by other experts, thus indicating an individual’s ability to provide correctness and expertise.

History and Cycles of Credibility: The Role of Credible Sources

Data or articles that have undergone open peer review, criticism, and transparent evaluation will build credibility over time. This process applies to authors and investigative principles as well. When individuals or entities consistently produce reliable and accurate content, they earn the trust of their audience, and thus are considered an expert of the field. Consequently, a cyclical pattern develops: their name adds credibility to the knowledge they create, and the credibility of their work further enhances their Knowledge Credibility. However, it is crucial for critics to remain objective and not accept statements solely based on the author's existing credibility. There is no guarantee in accuracy nor that the individual has further credibility when introducing new information.

Enhancing Knowledge Credibility: The Role of Technology

Technology, for better or worse, has both provided us with the world wide web, and caused the problems mentioned above. We are more informed, but the inundation of information creates chaos. Knowledge credibility helps to tame the wild and helps with accountability. Technology is evolving to further our ability to earn knowledge credibility and give us an ability to display it. Without knowledge credibility, the chaos continues. The promise of Artificial Intelligence to provide knowledge credibility hasn’t come through. Blockchain certainly offers the ability to know the first author to publish. The KnoCScore provides a firm solution going forward.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning may offer solutions for enhancing knowledge credibility. AI algorithms, although currently limited, can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns, and verify accuracy. Machine learning models can also evaluate the credibility of sources based on historical data, user feedback, and previous knowledge.

AI or even simple algorithms analyzes vast amounts of data in near real-time and can compare statements against other sources. This assists with identification of discrepancies and the flagging of potential misinformation. However, such tools cannot provide unquestionable validation as of today and potentially never. Existing AIs, although very powerful, are still young and experimental. Their rate of error cannot be validated well enough to give assurance of completeness. Additionally, AI and software contain bias based on both the absence of perspective and the perspectives of those who write the algorithms and the code that becomes the boundaries of AI platforms.

Blockchain Technology’s role

Leveraging the concept of Nakamoto’s 2008 white paper

about Bitcoin, Blockchain provides excellent properties of transparency and security. When implemented correctly, these properties can be leveraged to enhance knowledge credibility. By creating immutable records of information, blockchain can ensure that data remains unaltered and traceable to its origin. This technology can be especially useful in fields like academic publishing, where acknowledgement of original works is essential to the creation of knowledge. As seen in the 2024 Ivy League University review by congress, these presidents left a stain on the history of their institution’s existence. The Harvard University President’s offense was particularly egregious and stands as a prime argument for the necessity of Knowledge Credibility. Harvard’s President, the one who signs and administers discipline on ethical abusers, plagiarized a PhD Candidates works. A severe violation that every student must acknowledge during enrollment, and for which offenders are either expelled or in the case of an academic, fired. Even after being pressed about her abuses, she failed to acknowledge the violation and the candidate did not receive credit for its origin. Only after the US Congress conducted a review of other ethical problems, was she relieved of her position and the acknowledgement of her plagiarism became a public topic in a respected journal.

The KnoCScore: A Revolutionary Tool for Credibility Evaluation

In ChatGPT’s own words. One innovative tool designed to enhance knowledge credibility is the Knowledge Credibility Score(TM), or KnoCScore(TM). Similar to a FICO score, the KnoCScore assesses an individual’s knowledge credibility within a specific domain. Marketing research played a crucial role in developing the KnoCScore, utilizing web-based surveys, and in person interviews to collect representative data from different demographics while adhering to good research practices. This score is based on many variables, including educational background, professional experience, contributions to the field, and even peer reviews. The KnoCScore is the ‘Gold Standard’ for knowledge credibility and provides an unquestionable credential for its users.

The KnoCScore can be used in various contexts, such as social media, professional introductions, and job searching. For instance, on social media platforms, users with high KnoCScores can be highlighted as credible sources of information, helping others to identify trustworthy content. In another scenario such as professional job hunting, a high KnoCScore enhances an individual's competitiveness, leading to better job opportunities and compensation. Further, the KnocScore removes arbitrary variables and establishes a non-partisan standard across disparate industries and institutions. It provides a method to quickly validate if an individual or entity has the qualifications needed for specific or broad purposes.

Addressing Ethical Considerations

The KnoCScore is valuable tool that addresses challenges with discrimination. It eliminates non-important variables such as ethnicity, race, and gender, while focusing solely on capability, knowledge, and experience and further provides tangible hints about an individual’s true character. By doing so it addresses ethical considerations, ensures fairness, and transparency. By emphasizing the importance of technical skills, it eliminates irrelevant bias, opens doors to those who put forth effort, and allows employers to find dedicated and well skilled talent.

Conclusion

In the modern era, where information is abundant and easily accessible, knowledge credibility has never been more important. The ability to discern credible knowledge from misinformation is crucial for personal development, professional growth, academic integrity, and public trust. By fostering a culture of credibility and addressing ethical considerations, we can create a more informed and engaged society. The journey towards enhanced knowledge credibility is a collective effort that requires collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to ethical practices. The KnoCScore, a revolutionary tool designed to assess an individual's knowledge credibility is a significant solution in this endeavor.