Proverbs are a handy way of distilling ancient wisdom. Where there's a will, there's a way. The early bird catches the worm. Death when it comes will have no sheep. That last one sounds odd, you say? That's because an artificial neural network created by research scientist Janelle Shane came up with it. After being fed a list of more than 2,000 ancient proverbs, this AI system got the gist of it and created some of its own.
The neural network actually came up with a few sensible ones too – for example: “No wise man ever wishes to be sick.” And then there are some clunkers: “A fool in a teacup is a silent for a needle in the sale.”
Shane has had this network learning a few other skills, including coming up with new names for paint based on existing ones. Usually they’re called “autumn clouds” or “pearl shimmer”. Guess what the AI suggested? They’re pretty great: sudden pine (must be one of those vibrant greens), stoner blue (well, purple haze is a thing), stanky bean (scratch ’n’ sniff?), and turdly (yes, it’s a shade of brown).
