Automated Journalism

The Associated Press has gone into semi-auto mode:

Minutes after Apple released its record-breaking quarterly earnings this week, the Associated Press published (by way of CNBC, Yahoo, and others) "Apple tops Street 1Q forecasts." It's a story without a byline, or rather, without a human byline — a financial story written and published by an automated system well-versed in the AP Style Guide. The AP implemented the system six months ago and now publishes 3,000 such stories every quarter — and that number is poised to grow.

They say that reporters aren't in danger of losing their jobs; the technology supposedly frees them to delve deeper into subject matter in order to write smarter and more interesting stories.

Full automation began in October, when stories "went out to the wire without human intervention."

No word as to whether libel/slander laws can be applied to publications authored by software "without human intervention".