ULTIMATE MACHINE
As Useless As A Poet
(N.Z P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, June 25. A young man in Florida has just taught a computer to write poetry. He feeds the machine 78 words, including 20 simple phrases, and sets it to use nouns, adjectives, verbs in sequence. The machine then grinds out 30 poems a minute. Here is a sample:— Darkly the peaceful trees crash In the serene sun While the heart heard The swift moon stopped silently.
The author, IBM-709, is capable of only 42,000 mathematical additions per second; it is considered obsolete among modern computers. Obsolete or not, it will eventually be able to turn out 500 poems a minute. The pity is that there is no practical use for this talent, and IBM-709 can expect nothing but contempt from his fellow computers. But being a poet has its compensations. One of these is that most ladies would far rather have a poem than a red-hot election forecast
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30477, 26 June 1964, Page 11
Word Count
158ULTIMATE MACHINE Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30477, 26 June 1964, Page 11
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