My news feed has lately been overflowing with information and pro/con arguments about the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As a writer, editor, and teacher, my concerns are more plentiful—and more nuanced—than the possible flavor combinations of mixed Jelly Belly jelly beans.
On the use of AI for generating content a user (for I refuse to call them writers) then presents as original, I believe we can all agree that, like stacking the Candyland deck to get straight to Queen Frostine ahead of your younger sibling, cheating is just not cool.
Using AI for editing, however, such as with Grammarly, Wordtune, and ProWritingAid, is not as clear cut. Many, if not most of the suggestions these and other services offer are not quite right or just plain wrong. The user must have a good understanding of grammar and writing conventions to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Consider the humble calculator. If I don't know that 12 times 12 equals 144, then I won't recognize a calculator error of 1440 when I have accidentally mistyped a numeral. Similarly, if I don't know the difference in meaning between affect and effect, I won't recognize an erroneous correction.
Using built-in tools like spell check and grammar check in Word can be beneficial as one point of self-review (and it protects our original work from being "fed" to the AI machines for later regurgitation). The problem instead comes when writers rely on artificial tools.
Image: Prompt Genius