The software that writes a thousand earnings stories

Fritz Gleyo of Tech Times writes about the software that the Associated Press uses to write earnings stories.

Gleyo writes, “AP implemented the automation specifically for business-related stories that involve corporate earnings and stock market performance. Companies like Yahoo, Greatcall and Allstate have also put the technology to use. Yahoo, for instance, uses it for personalized recaps and reviews of Fantasy Football.

“When done manually, write-ups would be very time-consuming for human writers. There is also the likely possibility of committing errors when faced with so many figures. In contrast, Wordsmith can produce 2,000 of such stories in a second and all of which will have fewer errors.

“So are humans losing their jobs over this?

“No, not yet at least. At the moment, the program is still in its early years. It’s more of a tool for journalists within the AP rather than competition. Wordsmith deals with the figures and journalists can shift their focus on to other things.

“‘One of the things we really wanted reporters to be able to do was when earnings came out to not have to focus on the initial numbers,’ said an AP assistant business editor, Philana Patterson.”

Read more here.