Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay. And while experts may argue about the pros and cons of these programs, one potential pitfall is clear:
AI is not yet ready to replace human editors.
Consider this—a real example I got from ChatGPT:
ChatGPT (ChatGPT.com) changed “countries” to “regions” but left “New Mexico” as is. A human editor might wonder if the author meant “Mexico”—or something else entirely. Rather than just changing the word “countries,” a good human editor would ask the author what was meant.
Unfortunately, I recently came across an online conversation that was alarming. Someone hired an editor from a popular freelance site. As it turned out, the editor had no real editing or writing experience: They simply took the client’s documents, ran them through a popular grammar-checking software, and returned them without ever actually reading the documents. The software actually created more problems than it solved. So the “editing” service was cheap but also very costly.
Maybe one day AI will bring as much nuance to editing as an experienced human can.
But for now, buyer beware: If you hire an editor, make sure that real people will read your work. Otherwise, you just might get what you paid for.
By Jolinda Cappello, a Senior Editor with TalentMEDIA Services. You can reach her at jolinda@talentmediaservices.com.
TalentMEDIA Services’ team of real, live, flesh-and-bone editors will give your work the time and attention it deserves. Contact us today at information@talentmediaservices.com for a quote.
