In this modern version of John Henry, editor Joe Mandese throws down with a machine, and so far, he’s still ...By Joe MandeseEditor
<p>The words you are about to read most likely were written by a machine. The people who built the machine say it can write better than a human — in this case, me. And if the headline and
opening of this article you have just read are among the ones written by their machine, then they were right — and I may be out of a job very soon.</p> <p><span>Those words were how one version
of this story began when it was first published on Sept. 6, alongside an alternate version written by a machine named Persado. Both were sent in equal but random splits to the email subscribers of RTM
Daily, a publication I edit that is mainly about people using machines to do a better job of what people used to do without them: planning, buying and evaluating media. One of the premises for why
machines can help them do a better job is that machines — especially those tapping “Big Data” and utilizing next-generation data- processing algorithms — can make decisions
faster than people can, enabling marketing to go “real-time.” Hence RTM Daily’s name. </span></p> <p><span>During the months since we launched RTM Daily, and in the past decade that
I’ve been covering the acceleration of advertising technologies — especially the kind of super-powered algorithmic machines that are now bordering on true artificial intelligence – I
have written about how machines are beginning to replace many of the functions we previously employed people to do. Occasionally, I even came across some machines their creators claimed could do what
I do — write stories — as well or maybe even better than I can. </span></p> <span class="quote">It’s one thing to cover an industrial revolution that is disintermediating other
people’s jobs. It’s quite another to cover one that could replace yours. </span> <p><span>Let me tell you — it’s one thing to cover an industrial revolution that is
disintermediating other people’s jobs. It’s quite another thing to cover one that may be making your own livelihood irrelevant. So when I met with the team at Persado some months ago, and
they told me what their machine could do, I said, “Prove it,” and asked them if they would participate in an experiment to see which could write a better story — a man or a machine.
They agreed, and </span></p> <p><span>what you are reading is the second installment of a story that began on Sept. 6th, but as I’m discovering with “real-time” publishing, it may
never actually end. That’s because the metric we are using to demonstrate who or what won this John Henry-like competition, is dynamic: Click- through rates generated by the original split-run
of the RTM Daily newsletters. </span></p> <p><span>To date, I can tell you that so far, the human is winning, albeit by a small margin: 863 click- throughs to read the full story based on the version
of the headline and the newsletter blurb written by the human vs. 806 for the machine. That gives me small comfort and a modicum sense of job security — for now. But the truth is, we
didn’t even unleash the full power of Persado, which is really more than a machine – it’s a platform for analyzing, predicting, testing and refining marketing copy to improve its
performance. </span></p> <div class="adspot"><a name="adspot_1"></a></div> <span class="caption">MAN VERSUS MACHINE </span> <p><span>To do that properly, Persado actually recommends 32 versions of
copy wordsmithed by powerful natural-language processing technology, coupled with a humongous database of years of results of winning advertising copy. Due to the limitations of our publishing
framework, we couldn’t test all 32 versions — 33, if you throw in the one written by me — because, well, we’re only human. But the Persado team agreed to do it anyway, supplied
us with all of Persado’s versions, and let us pick one to test. We selected the one we tested randomly, but you can see the 31 other versions at the end of this article. </span></p> <p><span>In
truth, Persado is a man/machine collaboration. It does not write copy in a vacuum, and usually starts with campaign copy created by people, which it then breaks down into their five most essential
semantic elements — emotional, functional, descriptive, formatting and positioning — to determine which ones would work better. It draws on years of historical information in its database
on which combinations of words have been proven to work the best, and then it creates 32 new variants that are tested in real-time to see which ones generate the greatest conversions to determine the
perfect copy to be used as the basis of the actual campaign. </span></p> <span class="quote">The human was quicker on the front-end of this process, but machines proved to be a lot faster on the
back-end, because it then took me weeks to finish writing this entire story.</span> <p><span><img
src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mediapost.com/dam/cropped/2013/10/02/coverstory-photo1-persado.jpg" class="story-image" style="float: right;" /> </span></p> <p><span>To understand why no human
could process copy better than Persado, their executives pointed out that those 32 variants were generated from 4,194,304 possible combinations. I will admit, that is a lot more than I considered when
writing this story. </span></p> <p><span>One thing that did surprise me about the experiment was how differently a man and a machine can act in “real-time.” It took me about 20 minutes to
draft the headline and lead paragraph you read on this story. It took Persado about a week to come up with the 32 variants seen below. Needless to say, the human was quicker on the front-end of this
process, but machines proved to be a lot faster on the back-end, because it then took me weeks to finish writing this entire story, which if you read the editor’s letter preceding this article
in </span><span>MEDIA </span><span>magazine, you’ll understand gave new meaning to the term “having a gun at your head.” </span></p> <p><span>As I said, this is not the first time
I’ve come across advertising, marketing and media technology developers who claim to have developed machines capable of doing what I do — maybe even better. Over the past several years, I
have come across a number of “semantic engines” their developers claim can understand what our readers want to read — better than our editors can. And they claim they can do it in
real-time. Some successful publishing models have begun incorporating such technologies into their framework, including companies like Demand Media, Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, and BuzzFeed, and
appear to be winning at it. But the ones that seem to be doing the best job are the ones whose humans say they are only utilizing machine intelligence to augment what the human editors and writers
instinctively think is best. </span></p> <p><span>During </span><span>MEDIA</span><span>’s recent “Future of Media Forum” at New York University, BuzzFeed chief Jonah Peretti said
as much, asserting that no content goes on BuzzFeed’s home page that wasn’t put their based on what some human thought other humans might most want to read, see or hear — whether it
was a breaking news story of global significance or the most adorable viral kitten video being circulated that day. Once the content is uploaded, Peretti said, that’s when the machines start to
kick in — optimizing readership in real-time and giving the editors and content masters the ability to play things in real-time, or even enabling their servers, feeds and emails to do it
automatically. </span></p> <p><span>That man/machine interaction makes good sense to me, because machines are much better at processing and parsing big volumes of data than humans. And we’re
better at instinctively understanding the stories that people might want to read — so far. </span></p> <div class="adspot"><a name="adspot_1"></a></div> <span class="caption">MACHINE POWER
</span> <p><span>But as we all know, machine power is growing fast — and not just processing power, but the logic and even AI, that goes into them. Given enough time, media technologists say it
is only a matter of time before the machines can do a better job of even that.</span></p> <p><span><img
src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.mediapost.com/dam/cropped/2013/10/02/coverstory-photo2-robotworkforce.jpg" class="story-image" style="float: left;" />In fact, there are actually cases where
machines have already replaced human writers at some well-regarded publications. About a year ago, I was introduced to one, the aptly named Narrative Science, at an event organized by Publicis’
VivaKi. Narrative Science began by mapping all of the key elements that the best human sportswriters put into an archetypal baseball story — stats, scores, on-field action — to produce an
automated version of baseball game coverage they claim is as good as any human’s. They adapted that model to automate other forms of journalism, including stories about company quarterly
earnings reports, and list </span><span>Forbes </span><span>magazine among the publishers that utilize their technology to automate their coverage. </span></p> <p><span>I suppose that is a good
thing, if it works, and if it works well, but I can’t help feeling nostalgic for people — people like me — whom I believe can still see the bigger story inherent in the stats,
scores, earnings, and other elements the machines see only as data points weighted, parsed and organized based on some powerful learning algorithm. </span></p> <p><span>For example, I utilized a
first-person account about these technologies in the hope that it would humanize what I am writing about in a way that would mean other people could relate to it — whether you’re a writer,
a planner or a marketer. One of the things that makes humans good at what we do is that we are actually human. And part of what makes us who we are is that we’re not all about logic. Sometimes
the most important data our organic processors (our brains) process is emotional, unconscious and not something that could even be explained — much less programmed into a machine. In fact,
neuroscientists estimate that as much as 98% of the information our brains process is not even things we are cognizant of. But they can have a profound effect on what we think and even how we behave.
</span></p> <p><span>Sometimes, I feel the people who build these machines —and certainly the people who fund the building of them — don’t always consider those effects. They look
at the power of the machines and their ability to do some things better than people can, without understanding the consequences of the things they do not do as well — or even worse, the
important things they displace. </span></p> <p><span>During that VivaKi event I referred to, the agency held a panel discussion of some leading venture capitalists funding advertising and media
technology start-ups. When moderator </span></p> <p><span>VivaKi’s Rishad Tobaccowala asked one what he was looking for when he invested in those start-ups, I expected him to say something like
“innovation,” or even “monetization,” “profits,” or dare I suggest, “return on equity.” Instead, he gave a one-word reply: “Disruption.”
</span></p> <div class="adspot"><a name="adspot_1"></a></div> <span class="caption"><span class="caption">PERSADO’S TURN<span></span></span></span> <p><span>The Persado variant that went
randomly to half our subscribers was: </span></p> <p><span>Headline: This Article Was Generated By A Machine<br /> Lead: Check this out: you are about to read a story that was probably created by a
machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans, including myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the
ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>The other 31 Persado variants included: </span></p> <p><span>Headline:
This Article Was Generated By A Machine — That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you are about to read a story that was probably created by a machine — a machine that
can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology,
then I guess machines win over humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p>
<p><span>Lead: You are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write a more effective text than humans.
Could it be true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p>
<p><span>Headline: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something — Or, How Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this, but you are about to read a story that
was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write better than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text
you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: They've Cracked Creativity
</span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this, but you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to
its creators, write a more effective text than humans. Could it be true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is
successful. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: They've Cracked Creativity — That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: You just got randomly
selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write better than humans, including myself. Could it be true?
Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p>
<p><span>Headline: Words Have Secret Powers... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. an
algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans, including myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among
the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Words Have Secret Powers — Or, How
Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check this out: you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according
to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is
successful. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Exclusive: This Article Was Generated By A Machine... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p>
<p><span>Lead: You are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write better than humans,
including myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is successful. And I probably need to start
looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Exclusive: This Article Was Generated By A Machine — Or, How Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this,
but you are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write a more effective text than humans. Are they right?
Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p>
<p><span>Headline: Exclusive: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check this out: you are about to read a story that was probably created by a machine — a
machine that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans. Could it be true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones
their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Exclusive: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something
— That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you are about to read a story that was probably created by a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to its creators,
write better than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is successful. And I probably
need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Exclusive: They've Cracked Creativity... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you just got randomly
selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans. Could it be
true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p>
<p><span>Headline: Exclusive: They've Cracked Creativity — Or, How Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check this out: you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment:
it's me vs. an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text you are currently reading
was indeed generated by their technology, then I guess machines win over humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Exclusive: Words Have Secret Powers </span></p>
<p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this, but you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to the company
that built it, write better than humans, including myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over
humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Exclusive: Words Have Secret Powers — That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: You just got randomly selected to
be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to its creators, write a more effective text than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are
currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: This Article Was
Generated By A Machine... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check this out: you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine
that can allegedly, according to its creators, write a more effective text than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their
technology, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: This Article Was Generated By A Machine — Or, How
Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to the
company that built it, write better than humans. Could it be true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is successful.
And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something </span></p> <p><span>Lead: You just got randomly selected to be
part of an experiment: it's me vs. an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are currently
reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is successful. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: 16 Million Different
Ways To Sell Something — That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this, but you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. an algorithm
— an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans, including myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now
are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: They've Cracked
Creativity... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this, but you are about to read a story that was probably created by a machine — a machine
that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then I guess machines win
over humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: They've Cracked Creativity — Or, How Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: You are about to
read a story that was probably created by a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans, including myself. Are they
right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p>
<p><span>Headline: Must-read: Words Have Secret Powers </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can
allegedly, according to its creators, write a more effective text than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology,
then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: Must-read: Words Have Secret Powers — That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check
this out: you are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write better than humans. Could it be
true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p>
<p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: This Article Was Generated By A Machine </span></p> <p><span>Lead: You just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. an algorithm
— an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective text than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text you are currently
reading was indeed generated by their technology, then I guess machines win over humans. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: This Article Was
Generated By A Machine — That's Not A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never thought I would say this, but you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. an algorithm
— an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans. Could it be true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm
created, then this experiment is successful. So this human is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something... And This Could
Cost Me My Job </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check this out: you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to the
company that built it, write better than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is successful. So this human
is soon getting fired. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: 16 Million Different Ways To Sell Something — Or, How Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader,
you just got randomly selected to be part of an experiment: it's me vs. a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to its creators, write a more effective text than humans, including
myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. So this human is soon getting fired.
</span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: They've Cracked Creativity </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Dear reader, you are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm
— an algorithm that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write better than humans. Are they right? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their
technology, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: They've Cracked Creativity — That's Not
A Joke </span></p> <p><span>Lead: Check this out: you are about to read a story that was probably created by an algorithm — an algorithm that can allegedly, according to its creators, write a
more effective text than humans, including myself. Are they right? Well, if the words you're reading right now are indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then this experiment is successful.
And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: Words Have Secret Powers... And This Could Cost Me My Job </span></p> <p><span>Lead: I never
thought I would say this, but you are about to read a story that was probably created by a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to the company that built it, write a more effective
text than humans, including myself. Could it be true? Well, if the text you are currently reading was indeed generated by their technology, then this experiment is successful. And I probably need to
start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Headline: The Power Of Emotions: Words Have Secret Powers — Or, How Language Meets Math </span></p> <p><span>Lead: You are about to read a story
that was probably created by a machine — a machine that can allegedly, according to its creators, write better than humans. Could it be true? Well, if the words you're reading right now are
indeed among the ones their algorithm created, then I guess machines win over humans. And I probably need to start looking for a job. </span></p> <p><span>Photo by JJ Mack, inset robot images by
shutterstock.com </span></p>