Trust but Verify

Red or green squiggly lines are scattered here and there on your Word document. What does that mean?

It means that the computer program says that you have made a mistake in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or sentence structure. The red squiggle (spelling error) or green squiggle (grammar or spacing error) may or may not be a true or even reliable indicator of an actual mistake. Computers have not yet reached the level of AI (Artificial Intelligence). The program itself may be in error, not you. English is a complex language, and programmers are not necessarily grammarians with impeccable command of all the rules.

Spell checker, for instance, can and does mislead writers who trust it without question. If a writer replaces a word the computer underlines with a red squiggle and goes with the first word on the given list (after right clicking or using ABC Spelling & Grammar), some odd results may occur, not usually the results the writer intends. If I type in the misspelled word “grummer,” the red and wavy line tells me there’s a problem. The word I meant to type is “grammar,” but the first word on the list of replacements happens to be “grimmer” (which may indicate AI actually is in existence since grammar is often a grimmer problem than many of the other difficulties writers encounter). Even so, usually Spell Checker is right and is very useful for finding and correcting errors. To use it well, however, a writer needs to verify that the replacement word is the right word, not a weird substitution.

Once a correction is made, at times a writer may be tempted to use Correct All, another option. For changing a misspelled name every time it appears in the document, Correct All can be quite useful; but, if the writer makes the wrong choice or the same word is also used as another part of speech in the document, using Correct All can lead to confusion and woe, i.e., real trouble. Spell checker and related options are tools, not wise and careful editors with our greatest good their only goal.

Writers must make their own decisions when polishing their writing. Usually choosing replacement words from the list provided by Spell Checker works, but writers must still employ their own minds and memories – and maybe even a dictionary now and then – to make sure that the corrections they make are correct corrections.

Until an AI surfaces, one that loves both the beach and grammar, one that also knows me well enough to deduce when my typo “sirf” appears that I meant to type “surf,” not “serf,” it would be unwise for me to slavishly follow the first suggestion Spell Checker gives me (“serf”). Rather than be in thrall to a computer program, I have to use my mind and freely choose what makes sense to me with some assurance that it will make sense to others, which I can make happen by double checking definitions and parts of speech.

Computers, wonderful and useful as they are, do not yet know what we mean to say or how we intend to say it, not even close to as well as we do. Computers are good at recognizing patterns, but certain nuances are still beyond their capacity. “Trust but verify” is one way to be certain that the advice computers give is correct. We understand English and the meaning of words, connotations and denotations. Computers operate via programming and use data - bits, 0 and 1 - a system that does not translate into knowing the difference between “grummer” and “grammar” or “serf” and “surf,” not yet anyway.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten, not 10!