It is widely accepted that AI is very clever, and of course it is. Yet it’s not as clever as it thinks it is. I once worked on a legal document in which six different words were used for truck. At the end of the document I found that the case actually concerned a firm that manufactured fire engines. Artificial intelligence can often mistake the differences between soil, earth, ground and plot; between see, look, watch and observe.

Depending on the level of English – the so-called native speaker or otherwise – of the client or original author, the business of proofreading often involves a necessary degree of editing, going further than checking grammar and spelling, dotting I’s and crossing T’s. (There is some flexibility with the use of the inverted comma, as in 1930s or 1930’s).

Depending on the style and function of the document, there might be a more suitable synonymous phrasal verb, such as ‘She rose to her feet’ versus ‘She got up’. Formal and informal, fiction and non-fiction: “Unfortunately, she died during the night,’’ or, ‘’I’m afraid she is no more’’

Even in professional journalism there is frequently (or often?) a need to know whether to use the hyphen or the dash, and there is much confusion as to when to use which. Too often they are used incorrectly. A hyphen often renders a compound noun an adjective: “Well done!”  v It was a well-done steak: handbag is one word, whereas house key is not a single word. ‘He’s a front-line soldier (or indeed frontline) soldier fighting on the front line’, or ‘America is the world’s so-called world’s policeman’ is not the same as ‘Zebra crossings are so called because of the animal’s stripes.’

Then there is  collocation – make the news, or hit the headlines – and construction; He was brought up . . . or He grew up . . . Of, with and by have particular uses with bored. There are a few cases where individual taste may apply. The client might have a personal preference which is technically incorrect, such as using the single inverted comma instead of the more traditional speech, or quotation, mark. But fashions change, e.g. in recent years the dash has widely replaced the colon and the semi-colon, and they should serve different purposes. There are even two types of dash: en and em.

Unnecessary repetition must be avoided, too-long sentences broken down with suitable punctuation, and, even in scientific and legal documents, verbiage (the use of too many words) too. And generally simplicity is preferred, for example buy instead of purchase, but you might prefer garrulous to talkativeImmeasurably more and far more both have their places. Consistency must be maintained.

American English is different from British English, but some things are simply wrong: “Yes, I’ve collected my bag’s” is not the same as, “The bags are mine’’; ‘’My bag’s broken.’’ I once read, on the front page of the Guadian, ‘I was sat in the visitor’s gallery’. A woman I’ve known for 50 years still writes ‘alot.’

Widespread education standards, still imperfect (Lady Thatcher would have called it a job creation scheme), plus low expectations, not to mention personal choice, mean that the roles of the editor and the proofreader are not yet extinct. There is still work to be done by us. In my seven years’ experience, working on documents covering subjects as diverse as economics, history, art, law, tourism, biology, neurology and music, I have seen the proofreading market contract significantly; but as with AI-produced art, the human being still has the edge.

In the world of words, proofreading is the one area that requires 100% accuracy, both in terms of grammar and appropriate language. I regularly deal with private projects that cover economics, banking, law, science and history. Fiction would be a genre I would welcome to the list.

✓ Thorough Proofreading: All texts, of whatever length, receive three meticulous readings, until perfection is met.

✓ Language Excellence: Compelling and error-free content is my forte. I polish text while maintaining your unique voice.

✓ Tailored Services: Whether you need a comprehensive proofread or targeted editing, my job is to meet your specific requirements and deadlines.