The human in the loop

Editing AI-assisted English text is one of my specialisms. This is a relatively new and evolving field for everybody, so I’m sharing a few thoughts. I hope they’re useful.

Do we need to check AI’s language for spelling and grammar?

AI-generated text usually has good spelling and grammar. However, it can make mistakes. I’ve seen ChatGPT include unexpected alphabets in English sentences on several occasions.

In my experience as an editor, problems with spelling and grammar occur when:

the wrong English dialect is used
different spelling preferences are mixed together
the text was translated with an older translation tool
someone has woven AI text and human writing together

I don’t think it’s completely necessary to hire a human editor for the sole purpose of checking AI’s spelling and grammar.

We can be useful when a document has had a complicated production history.

Do we need to edit AI’s language for naturalness?

With good prompting and the right chatbot, an AI-generated text may sound very natural to English speakers.

In my experience, AI text sounds unnatural when it’s not a good fit for the identity of the writer or reader. For example, when it makes:

an elderly British man sound like an American teenager
a historian sound like they’re a Wall Street banker
a job seeker sound too casual and matey

You can ask an AI to check whether a piece of writing sounds natural enough for a particular situation. Unfortunately, you’ll also need to assess whether the AI’s response is reliable. I’ve found that AIs are prone to overcorrecting and making unnecessary suggestions.

For important documents, it’s a good idea to hire a human editor with experience related to your particular situation. They can look at how the text is likely to sound to your intended readers.

Do we need to edit AI’s language for cultural tone?

English is an international language, spoken in many countries around the world. Ideas about values such as politeness, confidence, and modesty vary from culture to culture.

In my experience, AI has a strong predisposition towards American business norms. It needs to be reminded that a text is for readers in another part of the world. As a British person, I’ve found that AI’s statements about UK cultural norms can be a bit superficial.

If you’re writing for readers outside your country, it’s a really good idea to hire a local human editor. They can carry out a localisation edit, adjusting anything that might sound culturally inappropriate.

If you use a localisation editor, be sure to specify how deeply you want them to edit. Localisation editing ranges from surface-level adjustments to rewrites that tailor a text to local behaviours.

Cultural tone is a very advanced language skill. I suspect it’s one of the last things we master when studying a foreign language!