# Today’s query: Can Generative AI be used to correct spelling and grammar errors as sub-editors do while editing a copy?
# Background: An important requirement of editing is to ensure that there are no spelling and grammar errors in the copy. Editors hate reports that are riddled with language errors.
Microsoft Word made the task of sub-editors easier by flagging such errors. The sub-editors could do a spellcheck using Microsoft Word and correct the spelling and grammar errors that they may have missed while editing the copy.
However, the sub-editors had to manually carry out the corrections. The question now is: Can AI go one step forward? Can it correct spelling and grammar errors also?
Twenty-one errors were introduced in a 354-word report and submitted to ChatGPT to correct. These errors have been highlighted in brown for your reference.
The corrected copy submitted by ChatGPT has been colour coded differently for easy understanding.
# Prompt: Correct the spelling and grammar errors in the passage given below:
Comercial Radio is a radio station that generates revenue through advertizing, also called radio commercials, radio spots or advertising jingles. The advertisements are released by companys which find the commercial radio to be a good medium to take there message to its customers. Several companies also sponsor popular programmes to reach out to their audience. However, the commercial radio should have a large listner base to attract the advertisers. This, in turn, depends on the kinds of programmes the radio station broadcasts.
Generaly, commercial radio stations broadcast popular music to build their listener base. They also provide useful information like local traffic alerts, sports news etc to keep the listener interested. To ensure that the listeners do not switch chanels, commercial radio stations employ radio jockys who keeps listeners entertained with their smart presentation and glib talk.
KDKA in Pittsburgh, which are owned by Westinghouse, is considered to be the first licensed commercial radio station in the United State. It started daily broadcasts in Novamber 1920. The first paid commercial in radio history was broadcast in 1922. It was realised by AT&T on a New York radio station called WEAF.
Since then, commercial radio have come a long way. It literally dominates airwaves in the US and Latin America. Commercial Radio is also popular into Europe and Asia though non-commercial radio or public broadcasting co-exists with it in several European and Asian countries. The key differences between commercial and non-commercial radio is funding. Unlike commercial radio which depend upon advertising as its key source of funding, non-commercial radio companies, which are called notional broadcasters or public broadcasters, are either subsidised or funded by governments or get their income from broadcast reciever licence fee.
One of the pieoneering commercial radio stations in Asia was Radio Ceylon. Its Hindi service that broadcast Hindi film songs was immensely popular across the Indian sub-continent n the 1950s and 1960s. Listeners across India tuned in every week to Binaca Geetmala, a weakly top ten playlist that was anchored by Ameen Sayani. The station interspersed its programmes with radio spots that included jingles from such famous brands as Lux and Coco Cola.
# Spelling and grammar errors corrected by ChatGPT
Commercial Radio is a radio station that generates revenue through advertising, also called radio commercials, radio spots, or advertising jingles. The advertisements are released by companies which find commercial radio to be a good medium to take their message to its customers. Several companies also sponsor popular programs to reach out to their audience. However, commercial radio should have a large listener base to attract advertisers. This, in turn, depends on the kinds of programs the radio station broadcasts.
Generally, commercial radio stations broadcast popular music to build their listener base. They also provide useful information like local traffic alerts, sports news, etc., to keep the listener interested. To ensure that the listeners do not switch channels, commercial radio stations employ radio jockeys who keep listeners entertained with their smart presentation and glib talk.
KDKA in Pittsburgh, which is owned by Westinghouse, is considered to be the first licensed commercial radio station in the United States. It started daily broadcasts in November 1920. The first paid commercial in radio history was broadcast in 1922. It was realized by AT&T on a New York radio station called WEAF.
Since then, commercial radio has come a long way. It literally dominates airwaves in the US and Latin America. Commercial Radio is also popular in Europe and Asia though non-commercial radio or public broadcasting coexists with it in several European and Asian countries. The key differences between commercial and non-commercial radio are funding. Unlike commercial radio which depends upon advertising as its key source of funding, non-commercial radio companies, which are called national broadcasters or public broadcasters, are either subsidized or funded by governments or get their income from broadcast receiver license fees.
One of the pioneering commercial radio stations in Asia was Radio Ceylon. Its Hindi service that broadcast Hindi film songs was immensely popular across the Indian subcontinent in the 1950s and 1960s. Listeners across India tuned in every week to Binaca Geetmala, a weekly top ten playlist that was anchored by Ameen Sayani. The station interspersed its programs with radio spots that included jingles from such famous brands as Lux and Coca-Cola.
# My Findings:
- ChatGPT was able to spot and correct all the errors, barring one. Its score:
a. Spelling errors: 8 / 8
b. Subject-verb agreement: 4 / 4
c. Proper Noun: 3/3
d. Pronoun: 1/1
e. Usage: 4/4
f. Preposition: 1/1
g. Error: 1
- The error that it could not correct had two variables. One was usage and the other was subject-verb agreement. The sentence spoke of differences but gave only one difference. AI corrected the verb’s number to match the subject but did not remove the contradiction.
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The success rate of AI in spotting and correcting spelling and grammatical mistakes is commendable. It can be used to improve editing.
Bottomline: Sub-editors can trust AI to spot and correct spelling and grammatical mistakes and should use it as an ally. However, before submitting the copy for printing the sub-editors should do a final check to ensure that the edited copy is fully error-free.
Read also:
AI can spot the 5Ws and H much like humans
Editors can depend upon AI to write news headlines
My Experiments with AI: Writing a news report
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