The world is evaluating whether and how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI). Prognosticators say that the concept and functionality of AI are here to stay, and will most certainly grow.

For those of us whose work is creative, focusing in particular on the grant writing work of our team, using AI represents an ethical gray area. (ICYMI: The Grant Professionals Association has been talking about this on an ongoing basis and has this current statement about the ethics of AI for our field.)

But for the purpose of this blog, let’s set aside that conversation and simply evaluate the value of AI’s basic capabilities related to writing and grammar checkers. 

Is today’s AI helpful for checking our grammar and our writing? Can it be an indispensable tool for us?

Our assessment: Sometimes, but it does not know everything all the time.

Here’s why. Our perception is that today’s AI and its algorithms generally understand and do what they are taught to understand and do. And in our experience:

• AI understands grammatical structure on the phrase and sentence levels.
• AI doesn’t understand your overall purpose in writing.
• AI doesn’t understand the overall tone you are trying to achieve.
• AI doesn’t understand nuance.
• AI doesn’t appreciate creative license.

AI sees in black and white (for now), especially grammar checkers, but we write narratives that are creatively woven between black and white.

P.S. Both a grammar checker and an online AI tool provided feedback on this blog. Inviting their input seemed fitting. The online tool offered suggestions for “clarity and conciseness” and “to avoid redundancy,” it said. We read through the suggestions and did use one of them. And we used a couple of suggestions from the grammar checker. However, at times, we do want to say to them, “But can’t you see—we’re trying to do a thing here.” (And then the online AI tool suggested correcting our vernacular in that phrase.)

P.P.S. Also, a human reviewed the first draft of this blog (as we do for all drafts of written work).