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Hit the books. That’s the advice you might give a student struggling for a better grip on the ins and outs of language. And it’s no different for an artificial intelligence.

On 18 February, Facebook released several data sets that it uses to train its home-grown neural networks. One is packed with the text of classic novels, such as The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Little Women, A Christmas Carol and Alice in Wonderland. There are more than a hundred stories in all, taken from the free online library Project Gutenberg.

It’s a reading list for fledgling AI (see box below). Training its AI on these books is part of what Facebook calls the Children’s Book Test, a method of gauging how well a computer understands what it’s reading.


Facebook researchers trained a neural network on a sample of books from the list. They then presented it with short excerpts from the stories it had not read and asked it to choose a word from a list of options that would fill the gap left by a missing word in the final sentence.

For example, here is one of the questions for a passage from Thornton Burgess’s The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad:

The AI chose “frightened” (red) to fill in the gap (blue)

The researchers argue that being able to answer such questions shows that an AI can make decisions by drawing on a situation’s wider context, a crucial skill in representing and remembering complex pieces of information. Similar thinking drove another Facebook-devised intelligence test that involves answering basic questions about the relationships between objects in short stories.

Facebook’s AI doesn’t always have its head in a book, however. When not reading, it’s swotting up on movie trivia. As well as the Children’s Book Test data, Facebook released 108,442 questions taken from Freebase, an online repository of general knowledge. Questions included “Who is an artist known for alternative hip hop?” and “What country utilizes the Tomadino language?”

The Reading List Andrew Lang Prince Prigio Andrew Lang Prince Prigio from "His Own Fairy Book" Andrew Lang Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia Andrew Lang The Blue Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Brown Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Crimson Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Grey Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Lilac Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Orange Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Pink Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Red Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Violet Fairy Book Andrew Lang The Yellow Fairy Book Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens The Cricket on the Hearth Charles Kingsley The Water-Babies Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin, Young Folks' Edition James Matthew Barrie Peter Pan James Matthew Barrie Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Version 1 James Matthew Barrie Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Version 2 James Matthew Barrie Peter and Wendy Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures Under Ground Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Louisa May Alcott Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, Volume 5 Louisa May Alcott Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag Louisa May Alcott Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag VI Louisa May Alcott Eight Cousins Louisa May Alcott Flower Fables Louisa May Alcott Jack and Jill Louisa May Alcott Jo's Boys Louisa May Alcott Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories Louisa May Alcott Little Men Louisa May Alcott Little Women Louisa May Alcott Marjorie's Three Gifts Louisa May Alcott The Mysterious Key And What It Opened Louisa May Alcott Under the Lilacs Lucy Maud Montgomery Anne's House of Dreams Lucy Maud Montgomery Anne Of Avonlea Lucy Maud Montgomery Anne Of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery Anne Of The Island Lucy Maud Montgomery Chronicles of Avonlea Lucy Maud Montgomery Further Chronicles of Avonlea Lucy Maud Montgomery Kilmeny of the Orchard Lucy Maud Montgomery The Golden Road Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1896 to 1901 Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1902 to 1903 Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1904 Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906 Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1907 to 1908 Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1909 to 1922 Lucy Maud Montgomery Rainbow Valley Lucy Maud Montgomery Rilla of Ingleside Lucy Maud Montgomery The Story Girl Nathaniel Hawthorne Little Annie's Ramble (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne Snow Flakes (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne Sunday at Home (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne Tanglewood Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne The Gorgon's Head Nathaniel Hawthorne The Lily's Quest (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne The Miraculous Pitcher Nathaniel Hawthorne The Paradise of Children Nathaniel Hawthorne The Seven Vagabonds (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne The Sister Years (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne The Three Golden Apples Nathaniel Hawthorne The Threefold Destiny (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne The Toll Gatherer's Day (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne The Village Uncle (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne The Vision of the Fountain (From "Twice Told Tales") Nathaniel Hawthorne Twice Told Tales Oscar Wilde The Happy Prince and Other Tales Robert Louis Stevenson Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson The Black Arrow Robert Louis Stevenson Treasure Island Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling Kim Rudyard Kipling Puck of Pook's Hill Rudyard Kipling The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling The Second Jungle Book Thornton Waldo Burgess Blacky the Crow Thornton Waldo Burgess Bowser The Hound Thornton Waldo Burgess Lightfoot the Deer Thornton Waldo Burgess Mother West Wind's Children Thornton Waldo Burgess Mother West Wind "How" Stories Thornton Waldo Burgess Mother West Wind "Where" Stories Thornton Waldo Burgess Mother West Wind “Why” Stories Thornton Waldo Burgess Mother West Wind's Animal Friends Thornton Waldo Burgess Mrs. Peter Rabbit Thornton Waldo Burgess Old Granny Fox Thornton Waldo Burgess Old Mother West Wind Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Buster Bear Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Grandfather Frog Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Lightfoot the Deer Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Mr. Mocker Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Prickly Porky Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Reddy Fox Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum Thornton Waldo Burgess Whitefoot the Wood Mouse Thornton Waldo Burgess Happy Jack Thornton Waldo Burgess The Adventures of Johnny Chuck Washington Irving The Legend of Sleepy Hollow