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Machine Learning Generates Clickbait Headlines That Will Shock You! (thestack.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the go-ahead-and-click dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Norwegian developer and blogger Lars Eidnes has designed a clickbait generator using a neural network, which is able to create sensationalist headlines that play on human readers' curiosity. Eidnes trained his neural network by scanning around two million clickbait titles from online media sites such as Buzzfeed, Jezebel and Upworthy. When asked to form a sentence, the system can now output a single word and continues the prediction process to find related words, in a pattern known as Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs).

62 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Annoy is more likely. by sims+2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Annoy is more likely.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Annoy is more likely. by HeadSoft · · Score: 1

      The text makes about as much sense as the typical over dramatic Facebook post everyone sees constantly. It would be funny to train the NN with posts of that sort, and generate entire Facebook "personalities" that blend in with any other angst-ridden grammatically-challenged Facebook poster. Maybe it would even confuse the data scrapers and spies out there, who knows?

      It ought to be funny in any case.

    2. Re:Annoy is more likely. by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 2

      What I want is a WWN clickbait generator: Woman gives birth to two-headed fish, WWII bomber found on moon, Cat owns 23 old ladies, Reporter eaten alive by rabid hamster, Bat child found in cave, yeah, now that's clickbait.

    3. Re:Annoy is more likely. by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      LOL, honestly, just scrape a couple of decades of Weekly World News.

      It's had to do better.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:Annoy is more likely. by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      I think they've already done this. On a side note, all those headlines do is train you to ignore them, which in itself could be somewhat dangerous. Better to ignore the sources generating them instead.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    5. Re:Annoy is more likely. by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      I'm presuming you meant hard to do better

  2. I have mod points... by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do I downvote this headline?

    1. Re:I have mod points... by telchine · · Score: 4, Funny

      I know one cool trick to do this; It'll shock you how easy it is!

    2. Re:I have mod points... by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Funny

      Headlines destroyed by one simple Machine Learning trick.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    3. Re:I have mod points... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Why would you want to downvote the headline? Given the subject matter I thought it was appropriate and rather funny.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    4. Re:I have mod points... by wardrich86 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Humans HATE it!

    5. Re:I have mod points... by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      Machines want this video banned!

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    6. Re:I have mod points... by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Ten Tips To Survive The Coming Headline Apocalypse!

  3. Took the bait. by AndyKron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ya, I clicked on it.

    1. Re:Took the bait. by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      Has it learned to do 419 scams in upper case yet though?

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Took the bait. by Black.Shuck · · Score: 1

      Ya, I clicked on it.

      You just read my headline. What happens next will make you click it!

    3. Re:Took the bait. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Well at least that answers the question "You'll never guess what he did next".

  4. Detect clickbait headlines with this one weird tri by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Machine learning programmers everywhere hate it!

  5. Wasn't there just an article by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    on /. about sports and financial writers being replaced by computer programs? Seems anything with a lot of statistics was ripe for this since sports/finance writers were really just putting fluff around numbers. Good thing automation never costs jobs, right?

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Wasn't there just an article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you want an example check out https://www.google.ca/finance?q=sial
      Sigma-Aldrich was bought out by Merck over a year ago for $140/share, but they had to wait for approval from various countries, "with the approval of the European Commission (EC) being conditional upon the sale of parts of Sigma-Aldrich's solvents and inorganics business in Europe" which they're now waiting to close. Until that happens there's very little interesting financial news about the company, and the share price has been steady a little below $140 for a long time. Yet you get a lot of automated news items, maybe 90% of them, such as:

      "Company Shares of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ:SIAL) Drops by -0.03%"

      The stories sound like they could have been written by a human, except that they're completely packed with information that no human would consider relevant (at least not relative to yesterday's run of the same article-program). It seems no one informs the computers when their stories are no longer interesting, and they just continue churning out useless stories, swamping the real news in this case, day after day.

  6. Needs some work, maybe by next year by davidwr · · Score: 1

    It's still not better than man-made Engrish.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  7. That Sounds Like Fun by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    Come with me and you'll be
    In a world of headline automation!
    Take a look and you'll see
    headline automation!

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:That Sounds Like Fun by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      Fun parody song, would upvote again.

    2. Re:That Sounds Like Fun by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Eh, almost. Rhyming "headline automation" with "headline automation" might be considered a little unimaginative.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    3. Re:That Sounds Like Fun by RandomExile · · Score: 1

      Come with me and you'll be In a world of mindless obligation! Take a look and you'll see headline automation!

      -FTFY

  8. Do you mean like this one? by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

    From yesterday's Slashdot entries:

    FBI and Join UK Against Forces Against Spread of Dridex Banking Malware

    Sounds like machine-generated gibberish to me.

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  9. So that's what by fred911 · · Score: 1

    the URL's next to the article posting are!

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    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  10. Obligatory by pushing-robot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When asked to form a sentence, the system can now output a single word and continues the prediction process to find related words

    https://xkcd.com/1427/

    Come to think of it, I need a browser plugin that randomly cuts off the end of sentences and replaces them with autocompleted words.
    Extra credit if the algorithm was trained on religious texts, trashy romance novels and operettas.

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  11. AI My Ass by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 5, Informative

    It may have been generated via "AI" techniques, but the results are little if any better than a simple Markov-Chain text generator, of the kind I built back in the 80s with my programmable calculator... and used today to generate spam emails.

    The only difference I see is that there are pictures accompanying the "articles". But I don't see anything about an algorithm for that, so I think I am safe to presume that the text is generated by the so-called "AI", but composed by an actual human.

    But maybe not... the pictures seem pretty random and unrelated to the texts. So it could be done algorithmically... but then it's still just as UNimpressive.

    1. Re:AI My Ass by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      Before anybody misunderstands... I am not using them to generate spam emails. But you've most likely seen some.

    2. Re:AI My Ass by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2
      ... And here is some output from a simple (naive) Markov-Chain generator fed Alice in Wonderland:

      It unfolded that it and then all the water and see whether it's marked 'poison' or not," for she had nibbled some more tea," the Cat said, without opening itself up on tiptoe and peeped over them, all ornamented with her head through that day.

      "You ought to her lips, saying tone; "don't be nervous, or I'll have finished," said the King, "call the party I ever was a little feeble, squeaking voice.

      "Then you should say what was coming to, but it was all ridges and found that it led into a tidy little cart-wheels and that's a fact."

      Just then Alice (she had kept a piece out of sight.

      Alice was a paper label, with the wood. "It's a Cheshire-Cat," said the Cat in a languid, sleepy voice.

      "What do you know about the same solemn tone, "For the fire, stirring a long hookah and take it and there. There was no "One, two, the Caterpillar took the house before seen a rabbit with the Queen, stamping about something; Alice heard this, she found that sort.

      Next came the royal children; there were trying every now and then hurried out, "The race was over at the Mouse only shook its head impatiently and was just begin?"

      This question is 'What?'"

      Alice was just going to get very tired of swimming away.

      "You're looking about for serpents! There's no name signed at the same thing, you know about two feet high and was "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"

      "I'm glad they'll do next!" thought, "it's sure to do with you. Mind now!"

      "He took me for her neck from being broke off and Alice heard it muttering to eat or drink under the immediate adoption of more energetic remediesâ""

      "Speak English!" said the Pigeon, raising its eyes, "Of course," said the King and very gravely, "I think of anger, and tried to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she did not get hold of any good reason to be afraid of it.

      Presentâ"at least notice this morning I've nothing to do.' Said the Knave of Hearts.

      The King looked up and bread and birds with draggled feathers, the animals with the words "DRINK ME" beautifully printed on going to turn into a cucumber-frame or some way out of prisoner toâ"to somebody to talk to."

      "How are you grow shorter, until there was hardly knowâ"No more, thank ye. I'm better now," Alice thought the flamingo and tucked it and people up like a telescopes. There was a general chorus, "Yes, please do!" But when they had been. world of trees, and I've tried her way through was more hopeless than ever.

      Parameters are adjustable. It can be made to make more sense than this, and there are some refinements to the general technique that aren't present here, particularly in the way of punctuation. I just generated a quick-and-dirty on the fly.

    3. Re:AI My Ass by dotancohen · · Score: 2

      It may have been generated via "AI" techniques, but the results are little if any better than a simple Markov-Chain text generator, of the kind I built back in the 80s with my programmable calculator... and used today to generate spam emails.

      You sent spam emails today? Dickhead.

      (For the stupid: I know what he meant.)

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
    4. Re:AI My Ass by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 1

      "New Rule: Lawrence V. Williams, Turkey Or Child -- A Good Guide"

      If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right :)

    5. Re: AI My Ass by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      20 to 30?! Markov chains are almost 90 years old! They're fabulous, especially for project Euler problem 'flea circus' ;)

      As with many innovations, not only practical but (today) SIMPLE applications took a long time to develop.

    6. Re:AI My Ass by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      It may have been generated via "AI" techniques, but the results are little if any better than a simple Markov-Chain text generator, of the kind I built back in the 80s with my programmable calculator... and used today to generate spam emails.

      The only difference I see is that there are pictures accompanying the "articles". But I don't see anything about an algorithm for that, so I think I am safe to presume that the text is generated by the so-called "AI", but composed by an actual human.

      Try reading the article. The pictures are selecting using a standard image search with the generated headline as topic.

    7. Re:AI My Ass by martas · · Score: 2

      Neural network marketing is surprisingly good. After the initial wave a few decades ago of computer scientists promising to solve all the world's problems by reinventing basic statistical methods under sexy names, I thought the hype had mostly died down by the mid 2000's. But there's been a hell of a comeback, I think in large part because of very successful marketing by the likes of Andrew Ng and whoever is behind the deep learning stuff at Google.

      And then there's the recent wave of high profile doomsaying about AI with 100 year old notions. I still haven't figured what's really up with that. Could just be attention-seeking, but maybe there was something else behind it.

      --
      weinersmith
    8. Re:AI My Ass by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      "New Rule: Lawrence V. Williams, Turkey Or Child -- A Good Guide"

      If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right :)

      "Taylor Swift: The New Face of Victim of Peace Talks"

    9. Re:AI My Ass by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      It is the AI trying to provide cover for itself.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    10. Re:AI My Ass by tommeke100 · · Score: 1

      Unless they also built an effective parser and include lexical information, this is probably just is an n-gram generator. It doesn't matter how 'deep learning' the neural network, maximum entropy, or naive Bayesian is; you get out what you put in the model.

    11. Re: AI My Ass by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      It's simple, if the input is large. You simply include the punctuation as part of the word to which it is attached when generating your probability tables.

      That doesn't work so well with small inputs... and wasn't part of the M.I.T. generator I demoed.

  12. Blogger Uses One Weird Old Trick For Headlines by TooManyNames · · Score: 1

    The method Eidnes used is hardly anything new. Frankly, I'd be surprised if many existing clickbait headlines weren't generated in this way to begin with. After all, it'd be, I think, easier to run some statistical analysis on the headlines that get the most traffic, training the generator accordingly, than to try to conceive of catchy-sounding headlines for every piece.

    Still, it's obvious he put some effort into this, and it's somewhat interesting to read about, so at least there's that.

    --
    "Is not a sentence" is not a sentence. Well damn.
    1. Re:Blogger Uses One Weird Old Trick For Headlines by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 1

      You (probably) joke, but the unsettling thing is that you're right. I think this has things to teach us about 'popularity' and 'survival of the fittest'.

      Perhaps I'm just crazy, but it seems to me that if this works in practice, it disproves 'market' theory. In other words, if you reduce all friction and gatekeeping, everything becomes shit :)

      This will come as a shock to many 'disruptive' startups believing they're making a better world aaah, who am I kidding? They're FINE with that as long as it makes them more money.

    2. Re: Blogger Uses One Weird Old Trick For Headlines by RobFisher · · Score: 1

      Not everything becomes shit. Since these tricks don't work on you, you would be an untapped market using just them. All this proves is that you can sell shit to undiscerning people, which I think we already knew.

    3. Re: Blogger Uses One Weird Old Trick For Headlines by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? I have a horrible fascination with US 'Kitchen Nightmares'. These tricks totally work on me :D

      There is NO market that isn't completely destroyed by the removal of friction and gatekeepers. It's shit all the way down!

  13. Let's try it on slashdot by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Snowden Tweets Hillary in Linux: NodeJS Cows found on Pluto Goatse Beowulf Cluster of Hot H1B Grits!

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    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Let's try it on slashdot by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      You missed a few clickbait terms: Windows 10, Systemd, Women in Tech, SJW, Gamergate, 3D Printing, NSA, Network Neutrality, Comcast, Drones...

      I should probably be modded down -1 Flamebait just for the sheer volatility of combining all these terms into one sentence.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    2. Re:Let's try it on slashdot by msimm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Too old school for most of the remaining readers. Slashdot, a site that initially attracted a high number of reasonably highly technically skilled readers, remains at the brink of irrelevance. That's a headline. Pandering to the lowest common denominator was cute back in the day when we all knew it was an inside joke. The typos and overt clickbate along with the inside jokes were fun. But after a while when a friend doesn't grow with the rest of his peers...eventually the ole hijinx get old. Nobody should want to be a 40 year old stoner journalist failure or to emulate one.

      --
      Quack, quack.
    3. Re:Let's try it on slashdot by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      you said nothing about Uber, Tesla... so it's not the perfect /. headline

  14. Hmmm sounds familiar by phayes · · Score: 2, Funny

    The name they gave to their invention: Timothy

    What a coincidence, we have our very own clickbait generating Timothy here on /. too!

    --
    Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
  15. I never open click-bait articles by ruir · · Score: 1

    And I think I will stop opening slashdot too...

  16. Greenpeace feminists! by Any+Web+Loco · · Score: 1

    Greenpeace feminists conspire with HB1 Visa holders to take guns away from experienced middle aged coders!

  17. Stanislaw Lem got there in 1976 by Rui+del-Negro · · Score: 1

    Stanislaw Lem's 1976 short story "One hundred and thirty seven seconds" ("Sto trzydzieci siedem sekund") is strangely similar to this (except for the fact that they eventually conclude the article-writing neural network can see 137 seconds into the future).

  18. It's over! by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    If the computer can generate headlines making you think of Betteridge's law of headlines, then journalism is really dead, that was the last bastion of the living, breathing journalist.

  19. Does this type of clickbait even work anymore? by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

    How often can you see a headline that says "you'll be shocked" or "you won't believe" before semantic satiation sets in and it just becomes meaningless text that you scroll past? I don't think those phrases have raised any interested from me since sometime in the 90s.

  20. Good news for Gawker by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    Now they can let go their editorial staff and generate their site entirely by scripting

    --
    Twinstiq, game news
  21. good by Tom · · Score: 1

    That is one step closers to automatically detecting this clickbait bullshit, so my ad blocker can filter it out...

    That's what they intend to do, yes? Right?

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  22. So its SwiftKey? by bobmajdakjr · · Score: 1

    Because my cellphone has been doing this for years. All I have to do is bash the space key and I get tonnes of random poems and headlines generated on the fly.

  23. Come-on App devs, gimme some ammunition.... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    Come on guys, I need an extension to Chrome and Firefox. It should open a pseudo tab, that is actually never rendered on screen. It should click on all the click bait links. Should have some AI to recognize clickbait headlines. The neural network trying to learn my click bait tastes should go completely haywire.

    Wish I have the energy to write one. But after hacking all day at work, I dont have the stamina to embark on more coding in my leisure. It should be childs play for those who hack browser extensions for a living.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Come-on App devs, gimme some ammunition.... by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      What I want is a simple "Click-bait" button on my browser and the Android Facebook app. When I click it, the site that had the "click-bait" headline is added to my personal [i]index expurgatorius[/i], and as far as my online experience is concerned, it utterly ceases to exist.

  24. oh, crap by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

    I'm too used to using BBcode formatting. Why can't everyone just use html? *grumble*

  25. A good use for this. by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

    This will be a perfect testbed to train my clickbaitblock plugin to go along with my adblock plugin.

  26. Impressive idea, but maybe not ready just yet... by OlTimon · · Score: 1

    "If I Were People Inside The Way My Kid Was In Syria, I Would Find Next Child If. And I Will It Call Them 'Save Me'", "Lawsuit Claims United Building's North American Movies Are Over", "50 Shades Of Baby? President Bill Clinton Admits She's Ready To Want You Back"... This story will be more interesting when the software can filter out nonsense headlines or correlate the components of the headlines better than it is now. Good base idea for a project, though.