Imagine being able to check instantly if politicians were telling the truth. That is the sort of service Google Inc. boss Eric Schmidt believes the Internet will offer within five years. Politicians
don't yet appreciate the impact of the online world, which will also affect the outcome of elections, Schmidt told the
Financial Times yesterday. He predicted that "truth predictor" software
would, within five years, "hold politicians to account." People would be able to use programs to check seemingly factual statements against historical data to determine whether they were correct.
