AI Can Predict Human Behaviour Now, As Machines Learn To Read Our Fiction
Stanford researchers have invented a new way for artificial intelligence to predict human behaviour, which is done by reading an online database of 600,000 fiction stories. If you were wondering what will give robots the edge when Skynet comes around, this would be a key element.
Their knowledge system, known as Augur, has been given access to Wattpad, an online writing community. This ever-expanding information base will enable the learning algorithms (otherwise known as vector machines) of AI to better predict the behaviour of people. And the success rate is insane! Using an Augur-powered wearable camera, this system correctly identified people and objects 91% of the time, and accurately predicted their next move 71% of the time.
"Over many millions of words, these mundane patterns [of people's reactions] are far more common than their dramatic counterparts," the team wrote in their study. "Characters in modern fiction turn on the lights after entering rooms; they react to compliments by blushing; they do not answer their phones when they are in meetings."
Just try not to show them Nineteen Eighty-Four or War of the Worlds. They could get some sinister ideas!
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Alongside the scientists, 50% of the British public and the future health of young people across the nation, I have one simple request: delay Freedom Day, please.