AI-Powered Polling Project Seeks to Map American Voices Before 250th Anniversary

A groundbreaking collaboration between pollster Scott Rasmussen of the Napolitan Institute and Google’s Jigsaw CEO Yasmin Green has the potential to transform how public opinion is measured in America.  

Their ambitious new venture, We The People, seeks to capture the voices of Americans from all 435 congressional districts in the country. Their answers will create a comprehensive map of public opinion on various topics ahead of the 250th anniversary of the United States next year. 

Their initiative, the subject of a recent discussion with The Daily Signal’s Rob Bluey, offers a different approach to traditional polling. They are creating an “opinion map” of the United States. Much like Google Maps helps users navigate neighborhoods and cities, We The People will map opinions across the country.

Rasmussen is a longtime leader in the polling industry and Green is a pioneer in technology. Together, they hope to find common ground among Americans and foster conversation, ultimately developing ways of determining public opinion that haven’t been done before. 

“What we wanted to do here was go beyond the language of a pollster asking a question,” Rasmussen said. 

The collaboration attempts to address some of the limitations in conventional polling, which typically relies on yes-or-no questions, approve-disapprove responses, and open-ended questions that often result in one-to-two-word answers.  

With Google’s Jigsaw, there are an endless number of possibilities.  

Based on the early results, Green said they were inspired by conversations that have led to substantive dialogue. With their model, participants offer their own views and then hear what other participants also had to say. Their goal is to allow people to speak without dominating or being dominated.

There are three parts to this new polling strategy. The process begins with broad, open-ended questions. Based on the response, Google’s Jigsaw creates a follow-up question to dive deeper into the topic. The second part is about listening. After offering their own opinions, the participants see the responses from others. The final part is mapping the opinions and asking the participants if that matches their expectations.  

With traditional polling, Rasmussen said responses to open-ended questions often result in answers of one to eight words. Under this model, they are able to get more detailed responses. 

Green pointed to a pilot town hall in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where they witnessed exponential engagement. That initiative included 8,000 people—or one in every 10 residents.  

As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in July 2026, We The People hopes to replicate that level of participation, and quite possible transform how Americans gather and understand public opinion.

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