Robotic journalism has arrived. In a recent New York Times article, Steve Lohr writes about a technology start-up in Illinois that’s come up with a computer program that can write news articles. Right now, the company’s software can take information from sports statistics or financial data, and turn it into a story using a specific set of algorithms. One of the owners of the company predicts that in five years his technology will win a Pulitzer Prize.
What’s wrong with this picture?? Whatever happened to the writer connecting with the reader? This whole concept kind of freaks me out, to tell you the truth. I’m not knocking efficiency, and totally get that now, more than ever, journalism is both an art and a business. But this business model is taking the art right out of the equation, and it’s insulting. This software merely relays information in a mechanized fashion – barely a step above box scores or a stock ticker – and comes nowhere close to connecting with readers. For the sake of readers and writers everywhere, let’s hope that this glorified paper mill never wins a Pulitzer.
