david sancha, words without writers, 11 june

GEN SUMMIT | Barcelona, 11th June 2014 Robot Journalism Bootcamp: Words without writers

A panoramic view through automated journalism: writing, editing, designing, and selling news

WHAT CANROBOTS DO?David Sancha | @dsancha

GLOBAL EDITORS NETWORK

BarcelonaJune, 2014

WHATCANROBOTSDO? Can robots write news?

Can a robot be a news editor?

Can a robot be a news designer?

Can a robot sell ads?


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What can I helpyou with?

CAN ROBOTS WRITE NEWS?


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“I need to know ifrobots can write news”

tap to edit

The answer could be controversial. There are a lot of journalists here…

“I need your help”tap to edit

Ok. Larry Birbaum can help you explain this case study: Narrative science. Robots can write news from statistics automatically.



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Analyze Data Create Narrative Deliver Insight

•SPORTS STATISTICS

•FINANCIAL REPORTS

•SOCIALMEDIA

STRUCTURES

ANALYSES

INTERPRETS

ORGANIZES

GENERATES

NARRATIVESCIENCE

HTML

XML

PDF

API


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NARRATIVESCIENCE

Anticipated Earnings Increase for PallINVESTING 5/28/2014 @ 10:00AM 16 views

By Narrative Science

Optimism surrounds Pall, as it gets ready to report its third quarter results on Thursday, May 29, 2014. Analysts are expecting the company to book a profit of 83 cents a share, up from 74 cents a year ago. !The consensus estimate hasn’t changed over the past month, but it’s down from three months ago when it was 85 cents. For the fiscal year, analysts are expecting earnings of $3.41 per share. Revenue is projected to eclipse the year-earlier total of $641.2 million by 6%, finishing at $679.8 million for the quarter. For the year, revenue is expected to come in at $2.75 billion. !While the company has been profitable for the last eight quarters, income has fallen year-over-year by an average of 18% over the past four quarters. The company was hit the hardest in the first quarter as it saw profit drop by 79%. !Over the last four quarters, revenue rose 1% on average year-over-year. The biggest boost came in the most recent quarter, when revenue increased 6% from the year-ago quarter. !Other companies in the capital goods sector include: Nordson, Donaldson Company and Flow International.


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Can robots write news?





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CHECKLISTCan a robot be a news editor?


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CAN A ROBOT BE A NEWS EDITOR?


BarcelonaJune, 2014

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“Can a robot bea news editor?”

tap to edit

We have a lot of human editors here today. Why do you need a robot?

“Just an example…”tap to edit

Let's have a look at #Open001, the publication of The Guardian made by robots.



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#OPEN001, AUTOMATICCONTENT CURATION


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«You might not guess it, but this publication was made entirely by robots. Well sort of. !More accurately #Open001 is the result of a smart algorithmic tool that identifies the most popular and interesting stories across the Guardian by tracking our reader’s engagement with our journalism».

‘Introduction’, Open #001Carter Brokaw, Executive VP SalesThe Guardian


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CHECKLIST

2.CAN A ROBOT BE A NEWS EDITOR? Can robots write news?






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CAN A ROBOT BE A NEWS DESIGNER?


BarcelonaJune, 2014

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“Can a robot bea news designer?”

tap to edit

I was assembled in China, but I was designed in California by Apple.

“I know that, butyou’re not a designer

tap to edit

Here you have a good example: Flipboard creates automatic layouts for millions of digital magazines.



BarcelonaJune, 2014

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Different resolutions Flipboard generates automatic magazines for different screen

resolutions and devices. !

More than 2,000 options Each page feels hand-crafted,

but the process of layout design is completely automatic

using an engine called Duplo. Duplo selects the best layout

to fit the content from more than 2,000 options.

AUTOMATIC LAYOUT DESIGN IN FLIPBOARD



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A subset of the 2,000+ candidate layouts for 3 column landscape page sizes.




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two-column article pieces one-column article pieces

1. Creating layouts

composition selected




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2. Selecting layouts and applying content

‣ Content match Duplo compares the contents’ structure against the layout’s content slots to see how closely it matches.

‣ Slot selection Duplo computes the best pairings of content with slots by optimizing a fitness function built on dozens of individually-weighted heuristics.

Page flow: organic sense of variety to the types and number of items on a pageImage feature detection, aspect ratio, scale, crop: the photo fits the frame.




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3. Refining layouts

Text is aligned to the baseline grid. Image viewports are adjusted.




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4. Displaying layouts

Duplo uses a type scale to size headline text down according to a designer’s specifications—lighter weights at large sizes and heavier weights at smaller sizes, all chosen by a designer to work well together.




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CHECKLIST

CAN A ROBOT BE A NEWS DESIGNER? Can robots write news?



Can a robot sell ads?Can a robot sell ads?


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WHAT ABOUT ROBOTS AND ADS?


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4.WHAT ABOUT ROBOTS AND ADS?


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“Siri, what about robots and ads?

tap to edit

David, this is an interesting point.

“Why?”tap to edit

Because about 20% of the overall digital-ad market is sold by robots. It’s called programmatic advertising.



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REAL-TIME BIDDING



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CHECKLIST

4.WHAT ABOUT ROBOTS AND ADS? Can robots write news?





THANKYOU.David Sancha | @dsancha [email protected]


THANKYOU.David Sancha | @dsancha [email protected]

“Thank you”tap to edit

Thanks, David.And thanks to all. Iwish you a pleasantstay in Barcelona.

david sancha, words without writers, 11 june

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