I was typing a blog post just now and my AI tool kept offering suggestions in how to compose it better, or suggesting different ways of saying the same thing with selected moods. It’s often annoying to be told I’m doing something all wrong by a computer that doesn’t agree with my style. I have pride in my writing. I believe I am above average in my wording choice and unique style, even if the computer insists it know better.
I think about that, while at the same time I ponder the effect this has on society as a whole. To some people who may struggle with writing an email or a reply comment that will be seen by the public, because they spell poorly, the idea that a real-time proof-reader must have seemed like a no-brainer when they were writing it. It will make the world more literate, or at least appear more literate. It will mean that we get exposed to clearer emails and texts and comments because people will let the ai help them as they write.
At the exact same time, our society is doing what it has always done. It bends to rules of what is acceptable as people do what they want. It accepts bad spelling and grammar and changes the rules to match the want of the people. So society and technology are actually moving in opposite directions. It is trying to make us perfect, while we are revolting, and making up our own words, and not changing opinions of people because they use “ain’t” or other phrases once considered taboo. We don’t want every email to be perfectly composed and spelled because in our minds, the way we spelled a word seemed more logical to use anyway, and it is our interpretation of our universe.
One guy on the internet said it best; if you understood it, it wasn’t wrong. People should be able to express themselves any way they choose without the fear of judgment because it isn’t the way you might have said it. If you understood it, don’t complain. Don’t judge a character by how different it is, embrace that individualism is what changes things.
