My Two Cents on AI

I admit that I was (am) a bit apprehensive about breaking into copyediting and proofreading in a climate where AI is becoming more popular. Until I began researching and reading articles, blogs and posts to the point where I was so far down the rabbit hole that I had to stop.

How many of you have seen the disclaimer that says “AI can make mistakes, so double-check responses”? It’s everywhere.

AI cannot replace humans for maintaining authenticity, tone and story-telling. Yes… AI tools are pretty handy for checking spelling and grammar. And yes, many can follow established style guides.

They help with proofreading on a first pass, but they aren’t foolproof. Meaning that a human editor must check the work during a second round.

AI tools can follow style guides… to the point that the style guide becomes a rigid command possibly creating additional problems. Again, a human editor must check the work to ensure the tool did not flatten tone or miss nuanced errors.

Many writers are looking for ways to contain costs for proofreading and editing. As they should. AI tools help with some of it but you still have to pay to play if you want the full power of an AI tool suite. And, while the initial cost may be less than hiring a human professional, it will eventually become necessary to engage with a real copyeditor or proofreader if you want to be sure that your voice, tone and message maintain the integrity of your writing.

I believe AI can play an important role in specific areas of most any function. For example, it is helpful as a summary tool during research. But the researcher is still obligated to read the results to ensure they are truly applicable to the topic. AI as a research tool can save time by finding relevant information; it just cannot guarantee that the information is useful to the researcher.

It’s the same with copyediting and proofreading. AI tools can save upfront time, but will still not replace the input of a human perspective who fully understands intentional stylistic choices or the deeper meanings of a story.

My advice to writers who are thinking of using AI tools for copyediting or proofreading is this:

• test any AI tools before you trust them with your work,

• make sure you save the original copy of your work separately from any manuscript you upload to an AI suite,

• ensure that whichever tool you use does not take IP rights away from you,

• review the results of the AI work to make sure that your voice and the integrity of your words remain intact,

• reach out to a copyeditor or proofreader to discuss your needs after you review the AI results.

This is just my two cents and is not, by any means, an in-depth review of AI tools.