Since his death over 400 years ago, its been speculated that William Shakespeare might not have actually written all of his plays. But anew artificial intelligence system by Czech researcherPetr Plech might prove how much he actually wrote.

The program used ShakespearesHenry VIIIfor the experiment and implemented an algorithm taught to recognize specific word choices from Shakespeare and John Fletcher, the playwright many believe helped him. According toPlechs research, Fletcher wrote over half of the play.

Unlike previous studies,Plechs research uses what he calls rolling attribution to determine authorship. This means thatPlechs algorithm breaks down parts of the play to find specific wording and vocabulary outside of scene boundaries.

In addition to proving Fletchers involvement, the algorithm proved thatPhilip Massinger, who was also thought to have helped Shakespeare, had no involvement withHenry VIII.

Our results highly support the canonical division of the play between William Shakespeare and John Fletcher proposed by James Spedding,Plech said in his analysis.

According to Engadget, it is possible that the AI system is picking up on instances in which Shakespeare and Fletcher mimicked each others styles, and it doesnt definitively answer whether or not Shakespeare wrote his plays on his own.

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