On the morning of August 22, Beijing time, Disney and researchers from the University of Massachusetts Boston announced a groundbreaking development: a new technology leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to gauge the popularity of short stories. While these AI tools aren’t sophisticated enough to replace literary critics or critique the artistic merit of a story, they show promise in predicting which narratives might resonate most with audiences. According to Disney researcher Boyang Li, “Our neural network has shown significant potential in forecasting whether a story will gain traction. It’s not quite ready to pick winners for local writing contests, but it certainly opens up exciting avenues for further research.â€

The research team harnessed data from Quora, a popular social platform where users often share personal anecdotes and stories. Since many of these posts receive likes and comments, the number of positive reactions can serve as a rough proxy for a story's popularity. Researchers mined approximately 55,000 responses, with over 28,000 of them averaging around 369 words each. From this vast dataset, they crafted two distinct neural networks: one focused on analyzing individual segments of each story, while the other took a broader, holistic view.
Each AI model demonstrated the ability to estimate the relative popularity of a story. While both approaches outperformed simpler text-based evaluations, the global neural network proved particularly effective, achieving an impressive 18 times higher accuracy compared to its counterpart that examined individual components.
This advancement has sparked speculation within the entertainment industry about its potential applications. For instance, film studios might someday adopt similar technologies to help screenwriters refine their scripts or even identify promising material earlier in the creative process. As AI continues to evolve, it may soon play a pivotal role in shaping not only how we consume stories but also how they’re created.
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