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What a Crossword AI Reveals About Humans' Way With Words

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Ben Zimmer

Ideas
05.06.2021 09:00 AM

What a Crossword AI Reveals About Humans' Way With Words

Dr. Fill, a puzzle-solving automaton, came out victorious at last
week's national tournament--but human solvers shouldn't throw in the
towel just yet.

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Collage of images of a crossword grid a man reading a newspaper with
a robot replacing his head and a computer playing chess
Photo-Illustration: Sam Whitney; Getty Images

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logoThe AI Database -

Application

 

Text analysis

End User

 

Research

Sector

 

Research

Source Data

 

Text

Technology

 

Machine learning

 

Natural language processing

At last week's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held as a
virtual event with more than 1,000 participants, one impressive
competitor made news. (And, despite my 143rd-place finish, it
unfortunately wasn't me.) For the first time, artificial intelligence
managed to outscore the human solvers in the race to fill the grids
with speed and accuracy. It was a triumph for Dr. Fill, a
crossword-solving automaton that has been vying against carbon-based
cruciverbalists for nearly a decade.

Ben Zimmer is a linguist, lexicographer, and all-around word nut. He
is the language columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a
contributing writer for The Atlantic.

Topicspuzzlesartificial intelligencelinguisticsmachine learning
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