More than 1,000 humans fail to beat AI contender in top crossword battle
Plus: Deepfake satellite images and Google fails to cite relevant research in its own large language model paper
Katyanna Quach Sat 1 May 2021 // 14:51 UTC Share
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In brief An AI system has bested nearly 1,300 human competitors in the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament to achieve the top score.
The computer, named Dr Fill, is the brainchild of computer scientist Matt Ginsberg, who designed its software to automatically fill out crosswords using a mixture of “good old-fashioned AI” and more modern machine-learning techniques, according to Slate.
It was able to solve multiple word conundrums fast with fewer errors than its opponents. Dr Fill, however, was not eligible for the $3,000 cash prize, which instead went to the best human player, a man named Tyler Hinman, who presumably isn t feeling somewhat redundant.
Nearly 1,300 people spent this past weekend racing to fill little boxes inside larger boxes, ever mindful of spelling, trivia, wordplay, and a ticking clock. They were competitors newcomers, ardent hobbyists, and elite speed solvers in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the pastime’s most prestigious competition. And most of them got creamed by some software.
The annual event, normally set in a packed hotel ballroom with solvers separated by yellow dividers, was virtual this year, pencils swapped for keyboards. After millions of little boxes had been filled, a computer program topped the leaderboard for the first time.
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Dr. Fill is the algorithmic creation of Matt Ginsberg, an Oxford-trained astrophysicist and computer scientist, stunt pilot, bridge player, novelist, and magician who lives in Oregon. When he began the project a decade ago, his motivation was simple: “I sucked at crosswords, and it just pissed me off.” Ginsberg hoped one day to walk into t
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