AI Loves--and Loathes--Language

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. A few years ago, I found myself investigating the thorny problem of Shakespearean authorship. I wanted to know if the anonymous Renaissance play Arden of Faversham (1590) was written partly or entirely by William Shakespeare. Perhaps, I thought, an AI could look over a field of plays divided into just two categories--Shakespeare on one side of the fence and everyone else on the other--and place Arden of Faversham decisively on the correct side.