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Automated Insights

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Automated Insights
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founder
  • Robbie Allen
Headquarters
Durham, North Carolina
,
United States
Products
  • Wordsmith
  • Wordsmith for Marketing
Websiteautomatedinsights.com

Automated Insights ("Ai") is an American-based technology company that analyzes patterns in big data and turns them into readable narratives.[1]

In 2013, Ai's output of 300 million stories was greater than the combined output of all major media companies combined.[2] The company's software generated one billion stories in 2014.[3] In October 2015, Automated Insights released their Wordsmith program as direct software for beta testing, allowing organizations to design and create their own automatically-generated narratives.[4]

Products

Wordsmith

Wordsmith is Ai's platform for natural language generation.[5] It is "an artificial intelligence system that uses mounds of data, quantitative analysis and some rules about style and good writing" to produce stories.[6] Wordsmith is sold as both a direct product and service to clients. In October 2015, the Wordsmith platform was updated to allow users to create their own narratives through online software. Software users upload their own data and create templates for forming stories.[7][8]

Wordsmith has been described as a "a sort of personal data scientist, sifting through reams of data that might otherwise go un-analyzed and creating custom reports that often have an audience of one."[9] The service works by ingesting structured data, analyzing it for insights, and then writing out those insights in human-friendly prose.[9]

Wordsmith for Marketing

In April 2014, the company launched Wordsmith for Marketing, which automates client reporting for digital marketing agencies. The tool turns website analytics data into plain English reports in the style of a human analyst.[10]

Clients

Allstate

In July 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that Allstate "uses Automated Insights to measure internal sales performance and issue recommendations for improvement." [11]

Associated Press

In June 2014, The Associated Press announced it would use automation technology from Automated Insights to produce most of its U.S. corporate earnings stories. AP said automation would boost its output of quarterly earnings stories nearly fifteen-fold, further noting that the technology would "free journalists to do more journalism and less data processing."[12] The Associated Press is the first newsroom to have an automation editor to oversee automated articles.[13] The Daily Show with Trevor Noah aired a segment on the AP's use of automation on October 7, 2015.[14]

GreatCall

Using GreatCall device data, Ai sends adult caregivers automated recaps on their week. "The idea," reported The Washington Post, "is to empower the elderly to live more safely on their own, while easing the worries of caregivers." [15]

Yahoo

Automated Insights (Ai) generates personalized recaps and previews for Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football.[16]

Other

Other Automated Insights clients include Comcast, and Edmunds.com.[17]

Recognition

Ai received significant media attention following the announcement that it would automate AP earnings stories. TechCrunch reporter Alex Wilhelm said he was "downright excited about the development," noting that "[e]arnings season makes most reporters want to poke their eyes out with sharp objects."[18] Kevin Roose of New York Magazine called automated reporting "the best thing to happen to journalists in a long time."[19]

In 2015, the Wordsmith platform raced an NPR reporter to produce a corporate earnings story.[20]

The Triangle Business Journal named Automated Insights one of the Best Places to Work in the Triangle in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.[21][22][23][24]

In 2013, the company received a Most Innovative Internet/New Media Company from the North Carolina Technology Association.[25] In 2014, the North Carolina Technology Association presented Ai its "New Media/Digital Company" award.[26]

As one of ten presenters at the first ever Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day, the company received a $100,000 investment commitment from AOL co-founder Steve Case.[27]

History

The company was founded by current CEO Robbie Allen while he was a full-time engineer at Cisco Systems.[28] Formerly known as StatSheet, the company changed its name to Automated Insights in 2011 to mark its expansion into non-sports topics such as finance and real estate.[29]

Automated Insights was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in February 2015, but remains independent.[30]

Competitors

Competing companies in the Natural Language Generation industry include Yseop, Inc, a multinational software company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.[31] and Narrative Science, an American-based computer software company based in Chicago.[32] Other similar companies in the area of Natural language generation include Arria NLG[31] and Linguastat.[31]

References

  1. ^ Harrison, J.D. "Steve Case makes a spur-of-the-moment million-dollar investment in 10 start-ups". Washington Post.
  2. ^ Ulanoff, Lance. "Need to Write 5 Million Stories a Week? Robot Reporters to the Rescue". Mashable.
  3. ^ Podolny, Shelley. "If an Algorithm Wrote This, How Would You Even Know?". New York Times.
  4. ^ "The company behind the AP's 'robot journalists' is opening up its technology for everyone". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  5. ^ "Natural Language Generators Automated Insights Get Acquired by Vista Equity". Dataconomy. 2/16/15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Ulanoff, Lance (7/1/14). "Need to Write 5 Million Stories a Week? Robot Reporters to the Rescue". Mashable. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Wordsmith's 'robot journalist' is now available to the public (Wired UK)". Wired UK. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  8. ^ "With new product, Automated Insights hopes to make 'robot journalism' cheaper and more plentiful | Poynter". www.poynter.org. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  9. ^ a b Finley, Klint (3/16/15). "In the Future, Robots Will Write News That's All About You". Wired. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Automated Insights' Wordsmith for Marketing Transforms Big Data Into Readable Client Reports [Tech Profile]". HubSpot Blogs.
  11. ^ Yang, Stephanie. "Can You Tell the Difference Between a Robot and a Stock Analyst? [Paywall]". WSJ.
  12. ^ Colford, Paul. "A leap forward in quarterly earnings stories". The Definitive Source. The Associated Press.
  13. ^ "How The Associated Press is using automation to rethink the way it does news | Poynter". www.poynter.org. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  14. ^ "Robot Journalists". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  15. ^ McFarland, Matt. "When an algorithm helps keep an eye on your grandparent". No. 11/19/14. Washington Post.
  16. ^ Eule, Alexander. "Big Data and Yahoo's Quest for Mass Personalization". Barron's.
  17. ^ Ranii, David. "Durham's Automated Insights acquired". News and Observer.
  18. ^ Wilhelm, Alex. "Bring On The Blogging Robots". TechCrunch.
  19. ^ Roose, Kevin. "Robots Are Invading the News Business, and It's Great for Journalists". New York Magazine.
  20. ^ Smith, Stacey Vanek. "An NPR Reporter Raced A Machine To Write A News Story. Who Won?". NPR.
  21. ^ Baysden, Chris. "TBJ unveils 2012 best places to work". Triangle Business Journal.
  22. ^ Snipes, Cameron. "TBJ reveals 2013 Best Places to Work". Triangle Business Journal.
  23. ^ Snipes, Cameron. "TBJ reveals 2014 Best Places to Work". Triangle Business Journal.
  24. ^ Snipes, Cameron. "2015 Best Places to Work". Triangle Business Journal.
  25. ^ "21 Awards Winners". North Carolina Technology Association.
  26. ^ "2014 NC Tech Award Winners".
  27. ^ Clifford, Catherine. "This Billionaire Just Gave 10 Startups $100,000 Each on a Whim". Entrepreneur.
  28. ^ Ranii, David. "Sports stats aren't just a hobby now". News & Observer.
  29. ^ Wauters, Robin. "StatSheet Changes Name To Automated Insights, Scores $4 Million". TechCrunch.
  30. ^ Lunden, Ingrid. "Vista Acquires Automated Insights, The Startup Behind The AP's "Robot" News Writing". TechCrunch.
  31. ^ a b c Woods, Dan. "Why You Should Hire A Robot To Write For You". http://www.forbes.com/sites/danwoods/2014/08/28/why-you-should-hire-a-robot-to-write-for-you/
  32. ^ Pletz, John. "Narrative Science gets $11.5 million to write next chapter". Crain's Chicago Business. Crain's. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
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