# Is it possible to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134 "2016-09-17T03:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/1 "2016-09-17T03:19:00Z")
Consider this discussion about the Golden State Warriors : > **[NBA Trade Rumors Golden State Warriors: Best Lineup in NBA League; Chances of...](http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/46749/20160915/nba-trade-rumors-golden-state-warriors-best-lineup-league-chances.htm)** > > The “Golden State Warriors” was caught in surprise when Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant decided to join their team this offseason. In result to this, the Warrior’s chances in winning another NBA title have risen. However, articles say that... Including these gems : > [@](#): > > The Golden State Warriors have the best line up in the NBA league. This is for the reason that they have Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson which are considered to be the NBA all-stars. Nevertheless, upholding caliber players is obviously costly, as what everybody knows. It gets worse. The sentences are sort of understandable because I’ve been following the Warriors, but none of them really make any sense. Every single sentence is full of the most unusual errors, but everything is spelled accurately, and the punctuation is as good or better than you might expect from any average English writer. Reading more articles by the same writer uncovers another massive mess of confusion. Could this be a robot? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/2 "2016-09-17T05:05:55Z")
Robots are expensive. I think content mill websites ply 10-year-old slaves with food and candy and oxygen and such. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/3 "2016-09-17T06:19:09Z")
Isn’t TapaTalk a robot? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/4 "2016-09-17T06:24:05Z")
Yes. Those posters are too busy/lazy to write their own posts. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/5 "2016-09-17T07:42:50Z")
What would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/6 "2016-09-17T09:02:47Z")
I machne-translated the paragraph into Russian, then to Thai, then to Norwegian, then back to English. It came out like this: Golden State Warriors are a good part of the league, the NBA. This is why they have Stephen Curry Draymond Green, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, who is considered one of the NBA All-Star, but maintain the ability of the player, the more expensive considerably. Obviously, as we all know. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/7 "2016-09-17T12:25:27Z")
jt, your translation was actually more readable to me, riiiight up to the very last bit about maintaining the ability, than the original as posted in the op. It just seemed to flow better. The style of writing is something I’ve been seeing more and more around the 'net. Might be a bit of confirmation bias though. I read an article on cnet a couple years back about robot written articles that had a link to such a piece. The purportedly robo-written essay looked and read very much like what the OP posted. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/8 "2016-09-17T20:37:55Z")
It looks to me like it was written by someone who is a non-native English speaker, not someone with poor grammar or a computer. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/9 "2016-09-18T00:36:57Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > What would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? Why do you say what would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/10 "2016-09-18T00:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Lemur866** : > > Why do you say what would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s talk about something else. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/11 "2016-09-18T04:03:26Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > It looks to me like it was written by someone who is a non-native English speaker, not someone with poor grammar or a computer. Same here. Looks like a bad Google translate. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/12 "2016-09-18T04:26:07Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Why do you say what would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? If you’re looking for Why do you say what would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? you’ve come to the right place. We all know Why do you say what would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? has been on a lot of peoples minds lately, so that’s why this is the most trustworthy place for info about Why do you say what would it mean to identify whether something was written by a robot or a human? ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/13 "2016-09-26T17:50:14Z")
Here is another example from some clickbait: > **[15 Major Casting Fails That Ruined Entire Films - BuzzFond](https://www.buzzfond.com/15-major-casting-fails-that-ruined-entire-films/5/)** > > Here are 15 major casting fails that ruined entire films. Every single entry in the 15 part clickbait series is written in the same way with a simple introduction of the actor and then some totally weird sentences about what was wrong with his participation in the movie. To me it reads as some kind of formula that you could program a computer to write. > [@](#): > > 1. Mickey Rooney - Breakfast at Tiffany’s > “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was released in 1961 when directors seldom hired Asian actors to perform an Asian character. Mickey Rooney, born in New York, was an American film actor, who played the role of the stereotypical Asian character in cinema history. Seeing in the modern standards, it would be very offensive, and it couldn’t be popular with audiences in that time, either. > [@](#): > > 1. Jake Lloyd - Star Wars: Episode I > Jake Lloyd, is an actor who is born on March 5, 1989, in America. He played the character of Anakin in the Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. A child actor who could have the excellent acting skills can rarely be seen in reality. However, Jake Lloyd who played the young Anakin Skywalker gives the role an excellent cast. While audiences may not like his wooden acting or cute look, because with that appearance much immaturity would be brought to the Star Wars series. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/14 "2016-09-26T19:10:10Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Here is another example from some clickbait: > > [15 Major Casting Fails That Ruined Entire Films - BuzzFond](http://www.buzzfond.com/15-major-casting-fails-that-ruined-entire-films/5/) > > Every single entry in the 15 part clickbait series is written in the same way with a simple introduction of the actor and then some totally weird sentences about what was wrong with his participation in the movie. > > To me it reads as some kind of formula that you could program a computer to write. I have taught roughly 700 freshman composition students over the years. Trust me, there is nothing remotely unusual or robotic about that writing style; it’s fairly typical of a semi-skilled writer who may not be a native English speaker. The tendency to fall back on repetitive formulas, like beginning every entry with “[Name] was born in [place] on [date],” is extremely common in people who don’t write well. The combination of a fairly sophisticated vocabulary (“stereotypical,” “immaturity”) with low-level grammar mistakes (“couldn’t be” for “can’t have been,” the superfluous “the” before “excellent acting skills”) is less common, but typical of international students. (And of course everything is spelled correctly; spelling is easy to check and correct with technology. It’s all the _other_ aspects of writing that are hard.) ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/15 "2016-09-27T02:07:03Z")
Great! Thanks for the reply. How would you think you could identify something written by a computer? ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/16 "2016-09-30T00:01:11Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Great! Thanks for the reply. How would you think you could identify something written by a computer? Well, [this](http://objectdreams.tumblr.com/post/139317698609/here-is-my-predictive-text-rewrite-of-the-elements) is an example of text written by a computer. The most obvious difference from human-generated text is that the computer clearly has no idea what words mean, making the results utterly surreal. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-identify-whether-something-was-written-by-a-robot-or-a-human/766134/17 "2016-09-30T01:00:23Z")
Very interesting question. I normally text everything. The text program gives word suggestions based on my previous input. Sometimes my word choice is not given in the selection. But, there are suitable words that wouldn’t cloud my intended meaning. And I may choose one of them, instead of key stroking a baby keyboard. So, I guess you could say my texts are co-written by a robot.