Whenever people imagine the future, they think about different technological developments, innovations, and trends that we currently only see in the movies. Robots are an inherent part of these scenarios since they are already being created and their AI systems keep undergoing changes to bring the most advantages to the human population. Scientists have achieved lots of progress in this area, and the new ability of robots to write and edit is among the biggest promising accomplishments. But it's impossible not to wonder: will the scholars go too far? Are robots writing articles an opportunity or a curse that will leave human writers jobless?
Nothing as extreme. As Steven Poole from The Guardian pointed out, despite all efforts, AI bots still can't write a logical and emotional piece of fiction. What they can do is improve our writing, catching mistakes and offering valuable advice.
Robots-Editors: Pros and Cons
Interestingly, the most widespread audience that uses or is interested in using robots for bettering their writing is students. The modern pace of life is hectic and life conditions are tough to an extent where the majority of young people are forced to work and study at the same time. They end up requiring essay help because they want to receive good marks and avoid ruining their general score. Editing and proofreading services the robots propose are excellent helpers in this regard, though like everything, they aren't perfect. Let's take a look at robots' strong sides first.
- Technical accuracy. Robots know how the correct version of the word should be spelled. Your Word spell-checker might lag but robots won't ever do that. If there are typos, they will flag them, giving you an opportunity to correct them.
- Basic semantic understanding. AI machines can tell when "form" or "from" should be used, whether "emphasize" or "empathise" is the correct choice, etc. They can understand the context, even if it isn't perfect, and they'll offer corresponding suggestions.
- Knowledge of structure intricacies. Another thing robots are excellent in is showing whether your sentence sounds too complex, whether it is overly short or has an awkward composition. This crosses the verge of proofreading and moves towards wholesome editing, which is essential regardless of whether you are a good and trained writer or not.
- Speed. Robots writing articles or editing them isn't the only education technology with useful opportunities. There are other ways of facilitating studies that work in different ways, but one thing remains unchangeable: the speed of task solving. All AI-based machines and simpler kinds of technologies work quickly, so you can have your essay read or proofread within seconds or minutes at most. No need to spend hours sweating down the text file, exhausting your eyes as you're trying to catch all possible mistakes and save your points. Robots will do this task for you right away.
Still, everything isn't as perfect as we might prefer. There are some things robots might never be able to do, and even their current possibilities are flawed. Your input remains vital, meaning that you shouldn't rely on robot-checked text entirely.
- Robots' understanding of context is limited. They might figure out what form of the word should be chosen but they won't analyse it within the wide context of the entire essay or even paragraph. They are good only with the immediate surroundings.
- AI can hinder creativity. Not all essays must be written in a strict, dry, and formal manner. Robots writing articles understand only technical rules, so they apply them during editing, too. They could make corrections that will eliminate your creative input and turn your text from imaginative to overly formal. Such tasks as reflections or even reviews often demand a personal touch, and robots will mistakenly remove it.
- Robots make mistakes. No robot is perfect, no matter how developed his or her AI system is. They could misinterpret a sentence and think that a typo is actually a correct version. Similarly, they can offer you to edit a perfectly normal sentence because their algorithms will view it as flawed for whatever reason.
- Robots might lead to tautology. To make text sound better, we often use synonyms. Robots dislike many of them, preferring one and the same word used over and over again.
The Era of New Possibilities
Artificial intelligence in technical writing has reached a unique point of development. Now, robots don't simply edit and proofread what's required, they write and create. As Scholarly Kitchen revealed, robots can now generate technical reports and research. They analyse the existing materials and present a pretty smooth overview of some topic. This progress is admirable, so soon, students will likely be able to use robot-created articles as supportive sources for their own work. Robots will look through your essay and they'll eliminate all sorts of technical and even semantic issues from it. Grab these new opportunities to improve your writing, but remember that robots aren't all-powerful. Re-read your essay yourself after robot programs are done with it.
About writer
Robert Everett is a content-creator and a researcher who has spent years in the writing and education industry. He has an intimate understanding of how this market works, so he follows its trends and presents them to the interested public. His findings, analysis, and advice have helped numerous students improve their study process, changing their approach to education from exhausting to genuinely interested.
