Scaling Traditional Focus Groups to the Size of the Nation with AI

Governance by the people is the cornerstone of representative democracy, but achieving it relies, in part, on understanding what the citizenry as a whole really wants.

People are eager to share their views and be part of the process but apart from answering a poll, participating in a focus group, or voting every couple of years, they have little ability to do so. Moreover, generalizing from polls and focus groups tends to flatten the nuance, keeping authentic voices from emerging.

AI, however, offers an opportunity to combine the breadth of polls with the depth of focus groups, establishing a new frontier in conversation. In partnership with the Napolitan Institute, Jigsaw launched We The People, a series of conversations with over 2,500 Americans from every corner of the country, a microcosm of the nation. Unlike traditional polls, these conversations are designed to allow people to freely express their beliefs in their own words, respond to the ideas of their peers, and vote on a series of propositions generated from all of the participants' conversations using AI.

The result will be a first-of-its-kind, living, breathing portrait of Americans’ beliefs. And we're already seeing the results. Over 90% of participants felt their opinions were represented in the summary of the conversation, and nearly 80% felt they better understood others' points of view, even if they disagreed with them.

Conversations will cover the nation’s founding ideals, the most urgent issues of today, and where America is headed next. We used AI to analyze, distill and present the many perspectives shared by participants, revealing a deeper, more nuanced understanding of Americans' beliefs on these topics. Ultimately, the outputs of each of these conversations will culminate in a final declaration that will be shared in July 2026, in tandem with the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

To learn more about this initiative and explore a report of each conversation as it takes place, visit wethepeople-250.org.