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# Meet the Robot Writing New _Friends_ Scripts

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by 

[Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/)


## Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune


Fortune

Jan 21, 2016 4:19 PM UTC

by 

[Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/)


## Laura Lorenzetti / Fortune


Fortune

Jan 21, 2016 4:19 PM UTC

A software developer has created a computer program that is writing its own wild and wacky _Friends_ scripts.

Andy Herd, a cartoonist and software extraordinaire, has fed all the scripts of the popular ’90s sitcom into a database. Then, using what’s called a “recurrent neural —i.e. a form of machine learning—it is now outputting scripts for new episodes of the sitcom, [reported the ](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/20/meet-the-robot-writing-friends-sequels.html)[_Daily Beast_](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/20/meet-the-robot-writing-friends-sequels.html)_._ It works by scanning the hundreds of thousands of words in the existing scripts to then predict the next letter after a string of other letters to create dialogue.

“It can generate stuff within minutes, but it’s barely English,” Herd told the _Daily Beast._

However, every so often little nuggets of comedic gold pop out of the program, leading to lines like these:

---

> “”

---

Herd tweeted about the new project Monday, sharing lines from his program. The initial Tweet has generated over 4,500 retweets and 5.200 likes.

> [](https://twitter.com/%5FPandy/status/689209034143084547)

He also joked on Twitter that he could sell an improved version to a network, and “all I’d have to do is push a button and BAM, top quality sitcom fodder ready to go.”


Herd used Google’s machine learning library TensorFlow, which went open source in November, to help make his project a reality. Programs like these aren’t all new (though its use to create _Friends_ episodes is amusingly fresh).

It’s much like [cognitive computing](http://fortune.com/2016/01/13/big-data-mainstream/?iid=leftrail), and IBM’s Watson computer, which uses a much more powerful system to win _Jeopardy!_ or help doctors better find rare diagnoses. Cognitive computing systems are able to simulate human thinking patterns to recognize speech or identify items in pictures or even develop[ all new recipes](http://fortune.com/2015/11/25/this-is-ibm-watsons-favorite-turkey-recipe/?iid=leftrail) for chefs, for example.

_This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/01/21/robot-friends-sequel/) _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com)

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