The New York Times Is Expanding Comments With the Help of Google's AI (recode.net)

An anonymous reader shares a Recode report: The New York Times says it is going to expand the availability of online comments from 10 percent of articles to 80 percent by the end of the year, without adding more moderators to its staff. How are they going to do this? With a machine-learning algorithm, of course. The Times today is rolling out a new structure of comment moderation using software from Google called Perspective, developed by the company's incubator, Jigsaw. The Moderator tool will automatically approve some comments and help moderators wade through others more quickly.

Comments

Re:Really?

[AthanasiusKircher]

To look on the bright side, perhaps such systems could elevate the level of insults. For example, let us imagine an internet dispute over feminine bottoms. One might see a comment like:

You shit-eating moron! Big butts on hoes are da bomb!

And that would score 94% "toxicity." Or, the author could reflect a bit and write:

My good sir! Even a caprophagous rapscallion could determine the ultimate pulchritude of femininity, which lies most gloriously in lovely and great callipygian virtues.

And you'd score a mere 12% "toxicity," despite expressing a nearly identical sentiment.

I'm normally not a fan of trolls, but if a system like this could lead to, shall we say, more "creative" insults and "elevated" ways of expressing such matters, that might be very entertaining.

(Alas, I know this system isn't sophisticated enough to generate such an outcome, since it's easier to "break" than just using words with more syllables.)

Re:Really?

[eaglesrule]

Paid trolls, shills and bots are a real problem that pollute comments. Read comment sections like at the Washington Post, which is one of the few that still allow comments, and you will see that one or two poster with an agenda that follows up every insightful or informative comment with a short, one liner insult. You don't need a perfect insult detector in order to filter out most of the garbage out there, and if commenting sections such as the Washington Post is any indication, then it is absolutely needed.

That said, I prefer Slashdot's moderation system. I appreciate that a well deserved "fuck you" will not be automatically censored or considered 'toxic', but could be awarded the highest visibility as long as the message is appropriate.