Think people know when you’re being sarcastic? Yeah, right.
Studies show that most of us believe we are much better at communicating than we actually are, especially when interacting online. For instance, a 2005 study found that recipients correctly identified the sarcasm behind email statements only 56 percent of the time. Furthermore, the participants remained confident they were being understood even when their actual ability to convey sarcasm varied significantly between email and verbal communication.
For the past decade, data scientists have been trying to develop algorithms that can automatically detect sarcasm. Most of these programs focus solely on categorizing the text of the message to determine the emotion behind it. In at least one study, by UC Berkeley’s David Bamman and the University of Washington’s Noah A. Smith, computers showed an accuracy rate of 75 percent—notably better than the humans in the 2005 study.
But the researchers found they could make their algorithms even more accurate by including important contextual information about the topic being discussed, the targeted audience, and, most importantly, the author.
Read the full story at California Magazine.
