Battling Bots and Typos

Autocorrect and the immediacy of most spellcheck software options make it harder to be a good writer. They overwhelm my already overloaded brain. I feel for folks with more intense speech and sensory issues than I have.

I am very self-conscious about typos. When I started this blog, and the one I wrote prior, I decided to not fret about them and just write. It took some stewing, but I eventually accepted that it would be hard for the same brain that made the mistakes to catch all the mistakes. I even allude to this in the blog description in the column on the right. Basically, for this project, the purpose is to get the ideas out, not to construct grammatically perfect paragraphs.

It's been nice. I do proofread, but I give myself grace. Even though I face-palm occasionally when I look at old entries before going back in for a quick edit, I don’t regret this choice. I’m slow and shy to post as is. The added pressure of grammatical perfection would make all of this nonexistent. 
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​My insecurity about typos and grammar mistakes goes back to adolescence. It’s a combination of things, the first being that I generally caught on to things quickly at school. So, when I would make a mistake, I’d get reprimanded for being careless without much discussion of the root cause. The second was that I got the idea that I was a bad writer. I wrote about that in greater detail here: https://dorothyjeanrice.com/blog/slow-going.

I now know that most of my mistakes are because I am more focused and interested in the ideas and how they flow together. Writing things out by hand, I often leave out words and sections of words. These are easy enough to address as I revise or transcribe. When I would write things on the board as a teacher, I made it a kind of game with my students when they would catch my mistakes. Used it as a way to normalize being a work in progress.

Admittedly, none of this sounds that bad. I’ve recovered from most of my teenage doubts, and I am confident I can construct a clear, concise, and clever sentence. However, I do make a lot of mistakes. Since my brain got all spicy, the mistakes are more frequent. For example, when I first typed that earlier sentence, I combined ‘clear’ and ‘clever’ into ‘cleaver.’ I do this kind of thing when I speak as well. It’s minor and is easy to manage.

However, the “Fix It Now” attitude of all these AI-driven programs adds another layer of things I need to manage. Remember when I said I want my main focus to be the ideas? It is really hard to sustain that focus when autofill is suggesting all kinds of ridiculousness, and every other word is being unlined. These distractions do not make me a better writer.

The worst is when my words are changed into something I Do Not Want. A recent example is when I texted a friend something benign involving sperm. Autocorrect changed ‘sperm’ to ‘supermarket.’ I can’t even. That was so much of a train of thought killer, I don’t remember the original intent of the message. 
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via GIPHY

​On previous occasions, I have changed the settings so that I can run a check when I choose. This is my ideal. (I also fare better when I am able to write out a draft by hand, but circumstances don’t always allow for that.) Unfortunately, the AI overlords do not like this, so every time they initiate an update, they undo this restriction and take over again. It is an ongoing battle.

I once heard someone with a severe stutter talk about how frustrating it is to have people “help” by finishing their words for them. They described the way it interrupted their thoughts and said it actually makes the stutter worse. It’s better for them to push through.

I feel the same way about AI writing assistants. On the days I’m struggling with words and language, I need to push. People and robots finishing my sentences make the problem worse. So, not only does AI bland and dampen creativity, but it can be an ableist jerk.

Conclusion, like any other tool, AI is only as good as its user.
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