Patent US 11,170,312

System, apparatus and method may permit users to collaboratively engage in inference on a computer and visualize structure of that inference, and provide a formal verification system for informal argumentation and inference. The system and method may generate and allow for modification of graphical structures that represent sequences of structured rational argumentation; and automatically monitor, compute and represent ratings or scores of nodes within the structure; indicate whether a node is supported by a chain of argumentation that has not been validly rebutted. The graphical structures may be displayed to bring into focus contentious and significant underlying points within an argument, and simulate the effects of alternative resolutions of these contentious points. The graphical displays may provide a transparent verification to other users of the state of what can be demonstrated and refuted, allow discovery of weak or missing points in a logical argument, and allow rational inference by users.