Are you using AI or spellcheck?

A

AndyCapp

Guest
Yesterday, I discussed AI, editing, and plagiarism in a long WhatsApp session.
I routinely use Grammarly for orthography and punctuation. God (and the Devil) are in the details.
I would like to know how many in my generation find modern writing aids useful or just a nuisance.
With Grammarly, I sometimes play the game of the Devil's Advocate. I suggest it transforms my text to a more affirmative or persuasive style. Amazing things happen. The original meaning gets twisted around; clear terms are replaced with "less offensive" = vague words that hide the original idea so it will not suppress anybody.
A couple of years ago, Grammarly was free for college students and a high percentage uses it daily.
I'm just wondering, could it be one culprit of the epidemic of verbal diarrhea with no trace of "beef" raging in the Academy?
 
I fancy myself a writer, so using Grammarly or any type of AI tool to get my meaning across feels like committing a cardinal sin to me. I use spellcheck in the sense that if I misspell or mistype a word, I right-click it to correct it when it's underlined in red. That's as "smart" as I want my typing medium to be.
 
As someone
- with a writing degree and
- who is actually English
both tools drive me nuts. Too many pieces of software default to American English (or, as I've heard it sarcastically referred to, "Simplified English"), meaning using them blindly will mess up the colour, honour, and overall flavour of my writing!
 
agentlossing said:
I fancy myself a writer, so using Grammarly or any type of AI tool to get my meaning across feels like committing a cardinal sin to me. I use spellcheck in the sense that if I misspell or mistype a word, I right-click it to correct it when it's underlined in red. That's as "smart" as I want my typing medium to be.
Click to expand...
That would be MSW-level "Check my spelling, but leave my grammar alone."
 
Coldkennels said:
As someone
- with a writing degree and
- who is actually English
both tools drive me nuts. Too many pieces of software default to American English (or, as I've heard it sarcastically referred to, "Simplified English"), meaning using them blindly will mess up the colour, honour, and overall flavour of my writing!
Click to expand...
I made three dollars while you were typing those extra u's!
 
I sometimes spellcheck words that are the same but spelt/spelled differently in Proper English and simplified English as some of these words are a bit of a Gray/Grey area to me.
 
Coldkennels said:
Considering that works out at £2.34 - which won't even buy half a pint of proper ale - I think I'll stubbornly cling to those Us (and my moderately warm beer), thanks. 😅
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No kidding. $3 won't buy anything in Seattle. Maybe one bus ticket if you take the Metro bus but not even the Express bus.
 
Why are people so charged with negative energy even on this site?
 
AndyCapp said:
Why are people so charged with negative energy even on this site?
Click to expand...
As I often half-jokingly say to my partner, "if everything wasn't so bad, I wouldn't have to be so angry."

I was largely joking around in my earlier posts in the thread (apart from clinging to my moderately warm beer, obviously), but "AI" tools really grate on me and any mention of them - even in passing - tends to set me off.

There's so many issues with them - from how they're built by scraping the work of real people, often without their knowledge or consent; to how they tend to regurgitate utter nonsense in an authoritative manner (@Sonnar Brian's proved that in some threads on here, but my favourite recent example is this post on Mastodon where someone fed an MRI to an "AI" to get a diagnosis, and it was very thorough... in diagnosing a dead salmon with various human conditions); through the insane amount of energy that these models are guzzling up, accelerating climate change in the process; to the obvious amount of layoffs that AI will cause in a whole slew of industries.

And this is even without digging into the ethical issues with AI and how these systems reinforce various systemic social problems - something which this hour-long Philosophy Tube video covers quite well, if I recall correctly.

I would say I'm an utter nightmare to live with but my partner is just as bad. As you might imagine, we're a hoot at dinner parties.
 
I use my brain and ESL. Spellcheck can't handle it and no AI to deal with it. So, I'm foolly licensed to write penis instead of pencil and gay instead of guy.

The later one I did before any auto spell was available. Our company partner tech rep was going to Moscow from France. I wrote and faxed welcome letter. I didn't waited for our company interpreter to check it before I faxed it.
She came to my desk week later and asked if I did faxed it already. I told I did. She explained to me it supposed to be with U.

And my another company boss (from France) once mentioned I better to use which instead off witch.

I wrote many stories on-line in Russian during earlier 2K. Got published in big media and been invited to read it on public. But my spouse as editor by education is troubled by my grammar. Yet, my family friends told it is funky writings to leave as is.

Oh, at one forum I wrote MILF because somehow I decided it was short form just for mother in law.
 
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