Much has been said of HFT (High Frequency Trading) the new generation of computer trading and its involvement and sway in the capital markets. In an interesting parallel, our sir named HFR (High Frequency Reporters) or computer generated stories from raw data, according to this AFP/Yahoo article are making their way into main stream media in a more prominent manner.
As you may know from our mentions of the possibly overly dramatic headlines, and while we have a huge appetite for vast amounts of data, stories, and headlines (occupational hazard), we remind you (and our selves) to carefully scrutinize the stories often as they may not always read true to the facts.
Much to our surprise/ignorance the prior mentioned AFP article, “Call him Al for algorithm” of computer generated articles, using fast paced computer algorithms (fancy word for if then analysis) opened our eyes to the artificial intelligence being uses for literature these days.
Here is out quick take on this in bullet point fashion:
- Speed is good, but can be dangerous
- Computers can never replace human reason 100% of the time
- There will be errors, some may be very costly if not monitored
- Pressure will be on real reporters to be even more dynamic
- Checking the facts is more important than ever
- The pendulum always swings too far and will eventually settle where it should be, somewhere in the middle
In the vein of progress, we appreciate the accelerated speed at which information travels, however the double-edged sword it also carries is worth remembering, as we feel there will be a occurence eventually where a computer algorithm generates a story that causes an issue, but hey, we humans make mistakes too!
Have a Great Day!
JK
PS As a reminder, I will be out of the office later in the week.
214-706-4300 www.jkfinancialinc.com