Science!: Info from TikTok -- not always good; Monkeys typing Shakespeare; Speech analysis

A medical journal reports:

How evidence-based is the "hashtag ADHD test" (#adhdtest). A cross-sectional content analysis of TikTok videos on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) screening

Result: Out of the 50 included #adhdtest videos, 92% (n = 46) were misleading. Furthermore, useful videos had minimal engagement, with only 4% of the total likes, 1% of the total comments, and 7% of the total favorites.

Conclusion: There is misleading information related to adult ADHD screening and testing on TikTok. There is a need to address this misinformation.

Dang. I thought TikTok was a reliable source of medical and other useful information. Now I'm all bummed out.

The science magazine Scimex reports that analysis says that monkeys cannot type Shakespeare:

It's not to be. Universe too short for Shakespeare typing monkeys

For number-crunching purposes, the researchers assumed that a keyboard contains 30 keys including all the letters of the English language plus common punctuation marks.

As well as a single monkey, they also did the calculations using the current global population of around 200,000 chimpanzees, and they assumed a rather productive typing speed of one key every second until the end of the universe in about 10^100 years – that's a 1 followed by 100 zeros.

The results reveal that it is possible (around a 5% chance) for a single chimp to type the word ‘bananas’ in its own lifetime. However, even with all chimps enlisted, the Bard’s entire works (with around 884,647 words) will almost certainly never be typed before the universe ends.  

In the era of generative AI, the Infinite Monkey Theorem, and its finite version, perhaps also challenge readers to consider philosophical questions around the nature of creativity, meaning and consciousness, and how these qualities emerge. [seriously?]

Aw crud. Another false belief blown to smithereens by cruel science.

Psypost reports about an AI analysis of speech by a small group of people:

Artificial intelligence reveals Trump’s language as both uniquely 

simplistic and divisive among U.S. presidents

Does Donald Trump speak differently from other modern U.S. presidents? A new study in PNAS Nexus suggests he does. By applying machine learning to a vast array of speeches—from debates to campaign rallies and State of the Union addresses—the team found that Trump’s rhetoric is distinguished by short, direct sentences and a notably antagonistic tone, especially toward opponents. The study’s AI-driven analysis highlights Trump’s unique style, setting him apart from other presidents, both Republican and Democratic.

A central aspect of the study was the creation of a new “uniqueness” metric, developed using a machine learning approach called large language modeling, which identifies patterns in language usage. For this metric, the researchers trained language models on specific datasets for each type of speech—debates, State of the Union addresses, and campaign events—enabling the model to detect how likely it was for a given phrase to be unique to one president compared to others.

A a notably antagonistic tone? Yes indeed. Good. Another true belief reinforced by wise science.

By Germaine: Science is interesting