The Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) has opened the code powering its Voitto bot, which currently writes reports on ice hockey matches. The code serves as a simple example of how that kind of article automation can work, and it can be downloaded and used under an MIT license.
The 'Lätkä-Voitto' bot is one of Yle's experiments in automated data-based journalism. It writes articles in Finnish and Swedish about ice hockey results and statistics, which are then published on Yle's Uutisvahti app and the Yle website.
"This is a good example of Yle's co-operation with other media organisations," said Jouko Jokinen, the editor-in-chief of Yle's news and current affairs output.
Elections and sport
Along with the code, users can download results and statistics from this season's women's ice hockey league and the Mestis second tier league, to assist experimentation with the code.
"Journalism is changing dramatically and the best use of bots can save journalists' time, allowing them to use more time for considered journalism while bots take care of the mechanised tasks," says Jukka Niva, head of Yle Labs.
Other versions of Voitto have been used to cover election results in Finland, quickly providing articles on local results across Finland's regions.
The Voitto source code is downloadable here.