Welcome to your Tuesday open thread. Meh, Tuesday. What’s up with you?
It turned out that a human had in fact written that report, but the creators of news-writing software Narrative Science decided to take this as a challenge – could its software write a better account of the game? It turns out that yes, it could. This is what Deadspin was sent from the robo-journo:
“Tuesday was a great day for W. Roberts, as the junior pitcher threw a perfect game to carry Virginia to a 2-0 victory over George Washington at Davenport Field.
Twenty-seven Colonials came to the plate and the Virginia pitcher vanquished them all, pitching a perfect game. He struck out 10 batters while recording his momentous feat. Roberts got Ryan Thomas to ground out for the final out of the game.
Tom Gately came up short on the rubber for the Colonials, recording a loss. He went three innings, walked two, struck out one, and allowed two runs.
The Cavaliers went up for good in the fourth, scoring two runs on a fielder’s choice and a balk.”
Impressive, eh? It may not have much flair or personality, but it’s readable and accurate. Sports reporters should have real cause for concern, it seems. It’s easy to see how other data-heavy fields, such as financial reporting, may also see an influx of robot writers in the future.
That didn’t really make much sense to me, but I’m not a baseball fan. What do you think? Do you think we will have robot bloggers in the future?
Ever hear someone scolded for their curse-laden language when they hurt themselves? Those finger-waggers who say cursing doesn’t help now should bite their tongues, then perhaps cuss to make it better. Researchers at Keele University released findings showing that letting loose a string of expletives actually has the effect of dulling the sensation of pain.
Researchers had volunteers dunk their hands into icy water and curse, and measured how long they could stand to keep their hands submerged. Then, they measured how long the volunteers could keep their hands in the freezing water while reciting harmless, “clean” language. The volunteers lasted longer while cursing, and the students who didn’t usually curse found the pain-dulling effects of cussing four times stronger than their more foul-mouthed peers.
Perhaps there’s a reason why you start cursing when you hit your thumb with a hammer. Next time you hurt yourself, let go. Tell scandalized bystanders that it’s doctor’s orders.