IBM Watson Personality Insights

Back in 2010, I did a post on I Write Like which reported the author most similar to a writing sample. I gave it several samples for which it gave me several different authors. The trend I noticed was the topic of the sample seemed to predict the result.

IBM Watson Personality Insights :

uses linguistic analytics to extract a spectrum of cognitive and social characteristics from the text data that a person generates through blogs, tweets, forum posts, and more.

It matches keywords in the writing to the Big 5 personality test and gives a summary based on it. So, it should be easy to skew too. I was able to find pieces of text from my blog that skewed the scores for all five measures. So, just like the other one, which samples I give it determines my “personality.” Something like FiveLabs’ Facebook Analyzer where it is looking at all or at least a huge sample of my writing probably would work better.

Trial One: Review: The Red Record Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States :

You are shrewd, somewhat inconsiderate and can be perceived as indirect.

You are unstructured: you do not make a lot of time for organization in your daily life. You are unconcerned with art: you are less concerned with artistic or creative activities than most people who participated in our surveys. And you are self-focused: you are more concerned with taking care of yourself than taking time for others.

Your choices are driven by a desire for efficiency.

You are relatively unconcerned with taking pleasure in life: you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment. You consider achieving success to guide a large part of what you do: you seek out opportunities to improve yourself and demonstrate that you are a capable person.

Big 5: Openness 91% ; Conscientiousness 12% ; Extraversion 23% ; Agreeableness 11% ; Emotional range 59%

Trial Two: Organizational Breakdown

You are inner-directed, skeptical and can be perceived as insensitive.

You are unstructured: you do not make a lot of time for organization in your daily life. You are carefree: you do what you want, disregarding rules and obligations. And you are calm under pressure: you handle unexpected events calmly and effectively.

Your choices are driven by a desire for connectedness.

You consider achieving success to guide a large part of what you do: you seek out opportunities to improve yourself and demonstrate that you are a capable person. You are relatively unconcerned with tradition: you care more about making your own path than following what others have done.

Big 5 : Openness 85% ; Conscientiousness 43% ; Extraversion 21% ; Agreeableness 21% ; Emotional range 26%

There was a 19% increase to Conscientiousness, 10 increase in Agreeableness and 33% decrease in Emotional range.

Trial Three: TED Talk: Jennings v Watson which I liked because it is ABOUT Watson, so it is kind of pandering.

You are skeptical, shrewd and analytical.

You are self-conscious: you are sensitive about what others might be thinking about you. You are independent: you have a strong desire to have time to yourself. And you are energetic: you enjoy a fast-paced, busy schedule with many activities.

Your choices are driven by a desire for organization.

You consider both achieving success and taking pleasure in life to guide a large part of what you do. You seek out opportunities to improve yourself and demonstrate that you are a capable person. And you are highly motivated to enjoy life to its fullest.

Big 5 : Openness 84% ; Conscientiousness 81% ; Extraversion 1% ; Agreeableness 12% ; Emotional range 62%

There was a 69% increase to Conscientiousness from the first trial and a 22% decrease to Extraversion.

I thought maybe Muzzled could get me a low Openness score, but it was the highest yet.

I did manage to drop Openness through the text of a private post rant about Valentine’s Day. It got down to 24%. Plus emotional range got all the way up to 97%.

You are easily rattled and somber.

You are organized: you feel a strong need for structure in your life. You are down-to-earth: you prefer facts over fantasy. And you are susceptible to stress: you are easily overwhelmed in stressful situations.

Your choices are driven by a desire for well-being.

You consider both taking pleasure in life and independence to guide a large part of what you do. You are highly motivated to enjoy life to its fullest. And you like to set your own goals to decide how to best achieve them.

Big 5 : Openness 24% ;Conscientiousness 41% ; Extraversion 27% ; Agreeableness 60% ; Emotional range 97%