5 ms·

Politicians are so predictable, a robot can literally write their speeches

38 points by t23 11y ago

coreyp_1 11y ago
It sounds like they just implemented a Markov Chain. Why is this news?
- viach 11y ago
  Because they didn't know they _elected_ a Markov Chain?
harigov 11y ago
Aren't politicians using a lot of data driven techniques to come up with their speeches? Basically have a focus group answer questions that let data analysts pick the right set of words that enables politician to reach out to targeted population.
daveguy 11y ago
1) This is AI theatre. We have been able to write plausible prose since at least the 80s using Markov models + ngrams and sentence structure. (Thanks Chomsky! ... from An Introduction to Information Theory by John Pierce 1980) 2) what's with all the Washington Post spam? Do all of their articles just get mirrored on HN every morning now?
Impl0x 11y ago
The journal article referenced in the OP actually seems to use more than just Markov chains. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.03313v2.pdf http://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.03313v2.pdf
bitwize 11y ago
Lincoln's favoritism for short, succinct speeches is, regrettably, a widely admired but not often imitated trait.
bayonetz 11y ago
Related: I recently ran Watson's Tone Analyzer and Petsonality Insights services on the presidential speeches of all presidents since Reagan. Unsurprisingly, there was hardly any difference between speeches. I ran other types of documents like research papers and blog posts to make sure Watson wasn't just broken. Those had plenty of variation. There very much is a formula to modern speechwriting...
- Umn44 11y ago
  That's because with the advent of TV/advertising they've turned political manipulation and spin into a science. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ Full thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOdJMuCreDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOdJMuCreDA
somberi 11y ago
Often wrongly attributed to Ben Franklin (1): If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. (1) http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/ http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/

38 points by t23 11y ago

coreyp_1 11y ago

It sounds like they just implemented a Markov Chain. Why is this news?

viach 11y ago
Because they didn't know they _elected_ a Markov Chain?

harigov 11y ago

Aren't politicians using a lot of data driven techniques to come up with their speeches? Basically have a focus group answer questions that let data analysts pick the right set of words that enables politician to reach out to targeted population.

daveguy 11y ago

1) This is AI theatre. We have been able to write plausible prose since at least the 80s using Markov models + ngrams and sentence structure. (Thanks Chomsky! ... from An Introduction to Information Theory by John Pierce 1980) 2) what's with all the Washington Post spam? Do all of their articles just get mirrored on HN every morning now?

Impl0x 11y ago

The journal article referenced in the OP actually seems to use more than just Markov chains. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.03313v2.pdf http://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.03313v2.pdf

bitwize 11y ago

Lincoln's favoritism for short, succinct speeches is, regrettably, a widely admired but not often imitated trait.

bayonetz 11y ago

Related: I recently ran Watson's Tone Analyzer and Petsonality Insights services on the presidential speeches of all presidents since Reagan. Unsurprisingly, there was hardly any difference between speeches. I ran other types of documents like research papers and blog posts to make sure Watson wasn't just broken. Those had plenty of variation. There very much is a formula to modern speechwriting...

Umn44 11y ago
That's because with the advent of TV/advertising they've turned political manipulation and spin into a science. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ Full thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOdJMuCreDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOdJMuCreDA

somberi 11y ago

Often wrongly attributed to Ben Franklin (1): If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. (1) http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/ http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/