Artificial Intelligence

ChatGPT and other AI services can quickly and efficiently generate text and correct grammar, and it may be tempting to use this service as a content editor. It’s cheaper and faster than human power. However, AI tools lack a human’s understanding of development and create risks that a human editor would avoid.

• These tools generate text based on other text in the public domain, so there is a very real risk of unintentional plagiarism.
• AI lacks a human understanding of language and often includes odd word choices that a native English speaker would never use.
• AI editors are blunt tools that quickly make major editing changes without a proper rationale, leading to text that rapidly deviates from the author’s intent.
• AI tools lack an up-to-date understanding of international development. In fact, ChatGPT can only access resources from up to about two years prior. That means that the text it generates is outdated in this rapidly moving field.
• AI tools may not actually save time in the end. ChatGPT and other tools are unaware of their own mistakes, which makes spotting them difficult. AI editing errors are not always obvious and may be embedded deep within the text. This requires human editors to not only correct language as they would with normal editing tasks but to also look for misrepresented data, plagiarism, and other grave errors. As such, AI editors still require humans to review the text with a fine-toothed comb, making the editing process even longer and full of risks.

Ed4Dev utilizes AI to supplement the human editing process, thereby avoiding its risks and leveraging its value.

• AI can offer a range of word choices. This can help editors offer authors different messaging options.
• AI can quickly check if titles or messages are already being used in the public domain. This can ensure that your report is unique in a crowded field.
• AI can review text for plagiarized content. Sometimes international development teams are large and team leaders cannot verify the originality of background papers and other inputs. AI can do this for them.