I never know whether to believe British newspapers, because they vary in quality. But the Telegraph says a computer program that is supposed to grade A level English papers (which I think is end of high school?) gives poor marks to Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway.

[Churchill's ] reference to the “might of the German army” lost him marks because the computer assumed that Churchill had intended to say “might have”, instead of using “might” as a noun.

Graham Herbert, deputy head of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors, said: “The computer was limited in its scope. It couldn’t cope with metaphor and didn’t understand the purpose of the speech.

“We also tried a passage from Hemingway. It couldn’t understand the fact that he had a very spartan style and [it] said he should write with more care and detail. He was also rated less than average.”

Are UK schools (and American schools, according to the article) actually using this program? Possibly. I get such a kick out of these kinds of stories. Every once in a while someone thinks a computer can have reading comprehension or write. Considering how few humans seem able to do either, I find that highly amusing.

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