In my youth I used a typewriter. If I hit the wrong key I had to sort out the error myself. It was called tippex and held pride of place on my desk. The whole world had no means of judging me if I had hit the wrong key. A typo was seen as a minor mistake, trivial and easily corrected.
Enter the smartphone and, with it, ‘Autocorrect’. It’s the self proclaimed arbiter of language and syntax. In theory it’s meant to make our texts more legible, our spelling impeccable and our lives more efficient. In practice ‘Autocorrect’ is anything but! It’s managed to become my worst enemy!
I’ll start typing and misspell or even just start a word and ‘Autocorrect’ will rush in! It doesn’t work with me, it works against me! It turns even the simplest, uncomplicated message into something confusing, awkward or at best, unintentionally hilarious! It doesn’t save time. It wastes time!
Autocorrect doesn’t negotiate nor does it pause to reflect. It creates a battlefield between my intended meaning and a series of algorithmic assumptions. I can accept minor alterations but not when one word has changed the entire sentence, often with profound social implications! It decides what I want to say without consultation. When I want to type ‘I’m on my way’ why does it think I’m really trying to say ‘I’m on my waffle’ Really? What does that even mean? I’ve sent a ‘Happy Birthday’ message to a friend and it’s gone as ‘Happy Birthing’!
Autocorrect doesn’t discriminate. Anyone can be a potential victim regardless of age, profession or linguistic prowess. Humour lies in the fact that these messages are often more entertaining than the original intended. ‘Autocorrect’ forces us to see the fragility, flexibility and often absurdity of the English language. It’s a reminder that clarity is both precious and precarious.
But ‘Autocorrect’ has an ally in ‘Predictive Text’, the ever confident futurist! It’s equally as ambitious and equally prone to error. It attempts to anticipate what I want to say and boldly complete my sentences for me! When I type ‘I’m going to the …’ it will write ‘rave’. It demonstrates the remarkable capability of machine learning to recognise patterns, yet it fails miserably in grasping context, subtlety or just plain common sense!
Despite the occasional embarrassing text or email why do I still keep using ‘Autocorrect’ and ‘Predictive Text’? Is it because, in many ways, it does work? Both have been known to correct genuine mistakes which contributes towards speed and efficiency. ‘Predictive Text’ tempts us with short cuts. We live in this world of rapid response where a delayed text could feel like a social faux pas. Some of us have been conditioned to trust technology, giving it the benefit of the doubt. Embarrassingly, I just don’t know how to turn them off!
While AI can process vast quantities of information, it remains unable to grasp context, nuance or the subtleties of human communication. it is simultaneously helpful, frustrating, fascinating and often highly amusing. Not a bad thing that AI is not infallible and can’t read the human mind. To stay one step ahead I have learned, the hard way, to think before I tap ‘send’. It’ll take a while before I can treat ‘Autocorrect’ and ‘Predictive Text’ as allies or even friends.
AI may be clever but they don’t have our wit, common sense or guile and that’s why we’ll always have the last word!👠
Jenny Burrell 