Chances are you’ve heard about artificial intelligence (AI) recently—if not in the news, then from an acquaintance, coworker, friend, or relative. AI’s capabilities have become quite impressive and extensive, so it’s no surprise it’s being talked about and used by writers in all sorts of ways—from generating ideas to creating outlines, articles, stories, and more.
In fact, as a novelist, you may very well be wondering if you can turn to AI for proofreading. To answer that, let’s take a deeper look at artificial intelligence.
What exactly is AI?
AI refers to computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. When it comes to proofreading, AI uses natural language processing algorithms to analyze writing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Many types of AI proofreading software are available, ranging from basic to advanced. Grammarly, Ginger, Hemingway Editor, and ProWritingAid are just a few of today’s popular proofreading programs.
But while AI can help detect and correct certain errors in written content, limitations prevent it from replacing professional human proofreaders, especially when it comes to proofreading novels. Human intelligence, with its unique abilities to detect and analyze context and nuances, simply can’t be replaced.
Consider the following issues proofreaders deal with:
Typos
AI is generally effective at detecting simple typos, such as missing or repeated letters, but it tends to miss complex typos involving extra space, consistency, and incorrect word choice. Consider the words let’s and lets, for example. Both are correct, but only in a particular context, and a human proofreader can determine that context much easier than AI can.
Word choice
While AI software can detect obvious spelling errors, it may not be able to identify incorrect word choices that are spelled correctly. For example, if a character is described as flushed and sweet when the author actually meant to write sweaty, AI wouldn’t catch this. It has no way of inferring the author’s intention the way a human can.
Or suppose a character in a novel envelopes someone in a hug. Software may not notice this word as an error because it is a valid spelling. It’s just not the right word for this situation. A well-trained proofreader, however, is quick to recognize that in this context the word should be envelops.
Real proofreaders are also skilled at catching and flagging pet words or phrases that, while not necessarily wrong, bog down a story with needless repetition that could annoy readers. Authors are usually very grateful to have these pointed out.
Consistency
Maintaining consistency throughout a novel is important, but it can be challenging for a long manuscript. AI may detect some inconsistencies, such as variations in spelling, capitalization, or grammar, but may not be able to detect more subtle ones.
For example, a character’s name may be spelled correctly but in several different ways throughout the novel (Brooke or Brook). Furthermore, AI isn’t able to identify inconsistencies in the story itself (such as a character’s eye color changing for no reason). Only a human proofreader can do that.
Capitalization
Capitalization errors are common in writing but can be tricky for AI to detect—particularly words that are capitalized only in certain instances depending on usage, like the king or King Harold. Proper nouns or titles are often incorrectly or inconsistently capitalized throughout a novel. While software may help catch some of these errors, it may not catch them all.
Spelling
AI sometimes struggles to identify spelling errors. This is because many words have multiple correct spellings, thus the right word for the situation depends, once again, on context. (Sensing a pattern here? 😊)
Also, certain words have variant or preferred spellings depending on the primary readership location (US or UK). Gray or grey, for instance.
A real-life proofreader can identify these types of issues more easily than software, especially because professional proofreaders keep track of certain words on style sheets to ensure consistency.
Punctuation
With the myriad ways punctuation can be misused, these little marks require human scrutiny. I regularly find apostrophes facing the wrong way because software sees them as single quotation marks (get ‘em should actually be get ’em). Additionally, missing but necessary punctuation marks aren’t always caught by AI.
And there are plenty of other ways to get punctuation wrong. Software may suggest using a question mark when a period is more appropriate and vice versa. Hyphens and em dashes have distinct uses and should not be used interchangeably, but software may not realize this. Novels produced to professional publishing standards should use curly quotes and apostrophes, not straight, non-directional ones.
These are just a few examples of important details that you can’t trust AI to catch or point out. And while these may be minor errors, when you have enough of them throughout an entire manuscript, they become a big problem for readers.
Grammar
While software can detect and correct certain punctuation and grammatical errors, you can’t rely on it because it can’t read and understand a story the way a human can. This can lead to missed errors or, worse, even incorrect “corrections.” For example, AI may suggest a change to a sentence that is technically grammatically correct, yet the change doesn’t make sense in the context of the story.
Additionally, AI may not be able to catch errors involving complex grammatical structures or sentence constructions. It may not accurately identify instances of faulty parallelism, verb tense, or misplaced modifiers, which can significantly affect the clarity and flow of a sentence. AI may recommend commas that aren’t necessary, and this can change the rhythm and pacing of the story as well.
Bottom line?
Novels are works of creativity, passion, and human insight and require an equal level of human intelligence. A novel is not a research paper and is not subject to pedantic rules. At times, a carefully considered comma splice or fragment may be precisely what the story calls for. Similarly, characters don’t all speak grammatically, and it would be a shame to change their voice just because a program tells you to.
AI software is not a satisfactory substitute for a real proofreader
By now it should be clear that while AI proofreading software can be a helpful tool, it cannot replace professional human proofreaders, especially when it comes to a novel, which often has a distinct style and voice unique to the author, as well as important nuances of emotion and tone. A professional proofreader recognizes and respects this while working to ensure they are preserving, enhancing, and—above all—not damaging that style.
Human proofreaders understand the context, emotion, and intention of the text in a way that a machine simply isn’t capable of. There’s a reason traditional publishers rely on human proofreaders, and if you want your novel to reach the same caliber as professionally published books, a real proofreader is a must.
This doesn’t mean AI doesn’t have value
The cleaner your manuscript is when you submit it to a real proofreader, the more your proofreader can focus on the elements that still need improvement. So if you find proofreading software helpful, use it.
But use it cautiously
Be aware that it may miss important things and may suggest wrong changes. When software programs give options, you need to know how to decide which is correct and what suggestions to ignore. Without a thorough understanding of grammar, the English language, and when it’s okay—even best—to bend or break a rule for effect, you may blindly accept AI suggestions as correct and may end up doing more harm than good.
Choose a human proofreader when you need real intelligence, not just the artificial kind
By all means, do what you can to perfect your novel. Hire a developmental editor. Incorporate big-picture edits. Revise. Copyedit. Proofread to the best of your abilities. Have friends do so as well. Give your manuscript to beta readers. Run proofreading software and read your story again.
When you’ve done everything you can to improve your novel, that’s when it’s time to hand it to a professional proofreader for a final, discerning quality check. You’ll likely be amazed—and relieved—by what they find. As a result, your novel will shine that much brighter.
And what author wouldn’t want that?
Categories: Proofreading
Tags: AI proofreading software, novel proofreader, novel proofreading, proofreading software