The ghost in the (writing) machine
by Celeste Ng
Not long ago, we talked about the phenomenon of robots writing books. But those computer-authored tomes—with scintillating subject matter like Saltine Cracker were mish-mashes of text culled together from Wikipedia and other websites. Computers can’t write actual stories. Or can they? Enter Narrative Science, a Chicago-based software company teaching computers to do just that—well, news stories, at least. Wired explains that articles written by the company’s computer algorithm are already out there: The computer-written product could be a pennant-waving second-half update of a Big Ten basketball contest, a sober preview of a corporate earnings statement, or a blithe summary of […]
