内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2026/tired-of-talk-that-goes-nowhere-this-seattle-startup-is-using-ai-to-turn-civic-debate-into-action/

内容总结：

西雅图初创公司用AI破解“空谈陷阱”，助推社区共识落地

当全球热议人工智能对就业和社会的威胁时，美国西雅图一家初创公司却反其道而行——将AI视为化解分歧、促成协作的“调解员”。

这家名为Convexus的公民科技平台，致力于帮助地方政府、非营利组织及社区团体摆脱碎片化争论，转向统一行动。创始人梅里尔·基廷（梅里尔·基廷）——曾是“极客周青年之星”的华盛顿大学毕业生——与母亲多娜·基廷（多娜·基廷）共同创立了该公司。

与传统社交媒体放大对立不同，Convexus的核心理念是“将对话转化为行动”。“许多数字平台只会奖励愤怒情绪，却从不促成任何共识，”梅里尔表示，“信息分散在不同工具中，根本找不到一致意见。”

平台采用“探索-对齐-行动”框架，并引入AI辅助引导。其“数字引导员”引擎基于人类Anthropic公司的Claude API，能实时捕捉共识点、在争吵升级时建议调整表述，并标记“搭建桥梁”的贡献——即那些连接对立观点的评论。平台还会奖励建设性行为，帮助团队从“分析瘫痪”走向协调行动。

最引人注目的功能是“实时共识仪表盘”——一个动态图表，直观显示群体同意比例的变化。系统还会记录参与人数和达成共识所需时长，创始人称这比传统委员会会议更“物有所值”。

与现有工具不同，Convexus整合了结构化对话、AI引导和行动成果。多娜·基廷对比道：“Polis只分析观点，Change.org只收集签名，Slack只用于聊天——没人像我们这样把三件事做到一个平台上。”

该平台计划采用订阅制收费，为草根团体提供免费或低价档位，并为政府、企业定制方案。创始人明确承诺“无广告、不卖数据”。

目前，Convexus正在美国太平洋西北地区招募组织参与30至90天的免费试点测试。该项目已入选华盛顿科技联盟“西雅图投资者峰会”首批10家高潜力初创企业名单，将于6月3日在微软雷德蒙德园区展示。

对梅里尔而言，这款产品是她多年公民倡导的延伸：“作为一名倡议者，我见过太多人年复一年地空谈，却毫无进展。我希望真正看到社区因我而改变——这正好是我的强项。”

中文翻译：

尽管围绕人工智能的诸多讨论都聚焦于这项技术对就业和社会的威胁，但西雅图地区的一家初创公司却扭转了这一焦虑——它不将人工智能视为冲突的源头，而是将其用作化解冲突的工具。
Convexus 是一个公民技术平台，旨在帮助地方政府、非营利组织和社区团体摆脱碎片化的争论，转向协调一致的行动。
该初创公司由梅里尔·基廷和她的母亲多尼亚·基廷共同创立。梅里尔·基廷是班布里奇岛本地人、华盛顿大学毕业生，曾于2021年被评为 GeekWire 月度少年极客；多尼亚·基廷则是一位经验丰富的战略顾问和咨询师。
与传统社交媒体常常加剧对立不同，Convexus 将“对话转化为行动”，梅里尔·基廷告诉 GeekWire。
“许多数字平台只奖励愤怒情绪，而不会促成任何形式的解决方案，”她说，“它们分散在不同的工具中，到处都没有真正的共识。”
Convexus 运用其所谓的“探索-对齐-行动”框架以及人工智能辅助引导，来解决现代公民参与中的僵局——帮助组织识别共同目标并加以执行。
“人工智能没有自己的议程。它几乎能与任何想使用它的人流畅协作，”多尼亚·基廷举例说，包括市议会、希望听取选民意见的政治候选人、读书会，以及试图解决企业问题的团队。
该平台使用 Anthropic 的 Claude API 为其“数字引导员”引擎提供动力，识别共识领域，在对话变得激烈时提出重新表述的建议，并引导群体做出决策。它还会标记“搭建桥梁”的贡献——那些能在对立观点之间建立联系的评论和视角——奖励建设性行为，帮助群体从分析瘫痪走向协调行动。
该平台的突出功能之一是一个实时共识计量器——一个动态视觉刻度盘，实时显示群体共识百分比——同时还设有决策追踪功能，记录参与人数和达成共识所需时间，多尼亚·基廷将其描述为与传统委员会会议相比的投资回报率故事。
创始人很快指出了 Convexus 与现有工具的区别。
“Polis 可以映射观点，但仅此而已，”多尼亚·基廷说，“Change.org 可以收集签名，但它没有 deliberation（商议）功能。Slack 用于聊天，但不做决策。没有哪个平台能将结构化对话、人工智能引导和行动成果在任意规模上整合起来。”
Convexus 计划通过订阅模式实现盈利，提供从面向基层团体的免费或低成本选项，到非营利组织、政府和企业计划的多个层级。创始人坚持一点：没有广告，不出售数据。
Convexus 目前正在邀请太平洋西北地区的组织参与为期30至90天的免费试点项目，以对平台进行压力测试。这家初创公司还入选了技术联盟于6月3日在微软雷德蒙德园区举办的西雅图投资者峰会与展示会的首批10家高潜力初创公司名单。
对梅里尔·基廷而言，这个平台是她一生公民倡导工作的自然延伸。
“作为一名倡导者，我经常看到人们年复一年地谈论同一件事，却从未有任何成果，”她说，“对于像我这样希望亲眼看到自己所处的社区产生积极影响的人来说，这最令人沮丧。而这件事正合我意。”

英文来源：

While much of the debate around artificial intelligence centers on the technology’s threat to jobs and society, one Seattle-area startup is turning that anxiety on its head — using AI not as a source of conflict, but as a tool to help resolve it.
Convexus is a civic technology platform designed to help local governments, nonprofits, and community groups move past fragmented debate and toward coordinated action.
The startup was co-founded by Merrill Keating, a Bainbridge Island native and University of Washington graduate who was a Geekwire Junior Geek of the Month in 2021, and her mother, Doña Keating, a veteran strategic advisor and consultant.
Unlike traditional social media that often amplifies division, Convexus “transforms dialog into action,” Merrill Keating told GeekWire.
“A lot of digital platforms only reward outrage and don’t really come to any kind of resolution,” she said. “They fragment across different types of tools, and there’s no real consensus anywhere.”
Convexus addresses the stalling point of modern civic engagement using what it calls an Explore-Align-Act framework — and AI-assisted facilitation — to help organizations identify shared goals and execute them.
“The AI has no agenda. It works fluently with pretty much anyone that wants to use it,” Doña Keating said, mentioning city councils, political candidates wanting to hear from constituents, book clubs, and corporate teams trying to solve a problem as examples.
The platform uses Anthropic’s Claude API to power its “Digital Facilitator” engine, surfacing areas of agreement, suggesting reframes when conversations turn heated, and guiding groups toward decisions. It also flags “bridge-building” contributions — the comments and perspectives that create connections across opposing viewpoints — rewarding constructive behavior and helping move groups from analysis paralysis to coordinated action.
Among the platform’s standout features is a live consensus meter — an animated visual dial showing the percentage of group agreement in real time — along with decision tracking that logs how many participants were involved and how long consensus took, what Doña Keating describes as an ROI story compared to traditional committee meetings.
The founders are quick to point out what sets Convexus apart from existing tools.
“Polis maps opinions, but it stops there,” Doña Keating said. “Change.org collects signatures, but it doesn’t have deliberation. Slack is for chat, but not decisions. No one integrates the structured dialog, plus the AI facilitation, plus the action outcomes at any scale.”
Convexus plans to monetize through a subscription model with tiers ranging from a free or low-cost option for grassroots groups to nonprofit, government, and enterprise plans. The founders are firm on one point: no ads, no data sales.
Convexus is currently inviting Pacific Northwest organizations to participate in free 30-to-90-day pilot programs to stress-test the platform. The startup was also selected as one of the first cohort of 10 high-potential startups at Technology Alliance’s Seattle Investor Summit and Showcase, set for June 3 at Microsoft’s Redmond campus.
For Merrill Keating, the platform is the natural extension of a lifetime of civic advocacy.
“As an advocate, a lot of what I’ve seen is people will just talk about things for years and years and years, and nothing ever gets done,” she said. “That is one of the most frustrating things as somebody who wants to actually see an impact being made on the communities I’m a part of. This is something that’s right up my alley.”