What do you think of the idea of having computers grade student essays?

The programs have been around for over a year, but I just learned about it. My initial reaction is that this is madness. Maybe some day in the future, computers will be sophisticated enough to judge the content of an essay, but they are currently a long way off from being able to do so.

Here is an article critical of computerized essay grading. I wonder what the grader would think of an Ernest Hemingway short story. It would probably downgrade him for sentences that are too short. Maybe Faulkner would do better.