The idea of using a grammar checker, even a self hosted "ethical LLM" horrifies me.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

The idea of using a grammar checker, even a self hosted "ethical LLM" horrifies me. If we all use these, then we risk that we all end up sounding the same. My writing has my own style (for better or for worse), and a lot of that comes from playing fast and loose with grammar. It's what makes my voice mine.

When I write, I get friends, friends I trust, to check it for me. They understand my voice. Their edits preserve that voice.

sidereal (@sidereal@kolektiva.social)

Re: "Avoiding AI is neoliberal purity culture" discourse The main reason I avoid AI is because I've never been impressed by a use case. I've never seen AI do something and been like "OMFG I need to do that!" What Cory Doctorow has outlined is a fine way to use self-hosted AI for grammar correction. As a professional writer, we can see why he would want to speed up this process. But also? I don't need AI for this, all my first drafts are perfect the first time. ASK MY EDITOR!

kolektiva.social (kolektiva.social)

[wfk@social.v.st]

@quixoticgeek long ago I was told by a teacher something along the lines of "creative writing is about knowing the rules of the language so well that you know exactly how to break them for the desired effect."
Imho this also applies to technical writing, though with stricter boundary conditions, which is why I was an avid reader of Stan Kelly-Bootle's columns. Blind use of spelling and grammar checkers is an excellent way to kill all that.

[hardingar@mindly.social]

@wfk @quixoticgeek British comedian Les Dawson had a thing where he would play the piano terribly but only because he could play it well and knew how to deviate into the best kind of bad.