The best way for AI machines to learn is by feeding them
huge data sets of annotated examples, and the Daily Mail has unwittingly
created one.
(June 18, 2015) A
revolution in artificial intelligence is currently sweeping through computer
science. The technique is called deep learning and it’s affecting everything
from facial and voice to fashion and economics.
But one area that has not yet benefitted is natural language
processing—the ability to read a document and then answer questions about it.
That’s partly because deep learning machines must first learn their trade from
vast databases that are carefully annotated for the purpose. However, these
simply do not exist in sufficient size to be useful.
Today, that changes thanks to the work of Karl Moritz
Hermann at Google DeepMind in London and a few pals. These guys say the special
way that the Daily Mail and CNN write online news articles allows them to be
used in this way. And the sheer volume of articles available online creates for
the first time, a database that computers can use to learn and then answer
related about. In other words, DeepMind is using Daily Mail and CNN articles to
teach computers to read.