acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

ACM News

Can You Tell Whether This Headline Was Written by a Robot?


View as: Print Mobile App Share:
Theres a good chance that some of what youve read on the Internet was written by robots.

Like other types of automation, there are many potential benefits to having AI handle basic writing tasks that are often mere drudgery for humans.

Credit: James Steinberg

You probably haven't noticed, but there's a good chance that some of what you've read on the Internet was written by robots. And it's likely to be a lot more soon.

Artificial-intelligence software programs that generate text are becoming sophisticated enough that their output often can't be distinguished from what people write. And a growing number of companies are seeking to make use of this technology to automate the creation of information we might rely on, according to those who build the tools, academics who study the software, and investors backing companies that are expanding the types of content that can be auto-generated.

"It is probably impossible that the majority of people who use the web on a day-to-day basis haven't at some point run into AI-generated content," says Adam Chronister, who runs a small search-engine optimization firm in Spokane, WA. Everyone in the professional search-engine optimization groups of which he's a part uses this technology to some extent, he adds. Mr. Chronister's customers include dozens of small and medium businesses, and for many of them he uses AI software custom-built to quickly generate articles that rank high in Google's search results—a practice called content marketing—and so draw potential customers to these websites.

 

From The Wall Street Journal
View Full Article

 


 

No entries found

Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account