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Maryan Pelland's avatar

I feel the same about AI suggestions for changes to human writing. As for tools, there are many but they are all unreliable--often calling AI stuff "possibly human." GPT Zero and WinstonAI have pretty decent reviews.

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Patti Petersen's avatar

Oh goodness. I have a confession to make. I can rarely recognize AI writing. I think I mentioned to you I use one for editing grammar, specifically punctuation. Sometimes it will try and rewrite a sentence. I don't like the suggestions. They all sound too professional/mechanical, like something I'd never say, let alone write. Also, is there a tool I can use to tell whether something is written in AI? I feel silly for 'fessing this up but since it's becoming an issue of late I need to level up my game. Thanks!

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Mike Searles's avatar

Lots to like here Maryan. Can't say more right now - I'm Googling "squicky" ... ... ...

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

hahahahahaha! My definition: your friend offers to dog-sit while you're out of town. You later discover he has a Korean restaurant. His offer could be seen as squicky.

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

I was never a good typist and never will be :) I loved your last line in this comment!!

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

Thanks for the careful read--I appreciate the call out. It's been corrected. Apparently, Grammarly didn't read my mind and flag this!

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

That's really great insight, and I appreciate it! I use LLM (large language model) tools very carefully and sparingly as I've said. I'll look into Langtool--have not heard of it before, but first glance this morning shows it may have an issue with missing spelling errors sometimes and many users comment on the tracking it does. I'll dig deeper, thanks.

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Randy Kaplan's avatar

Maryan, not too long ago I cancelled my subscription to Grammarly. Since it is LLM-based and EXPENSIVE, it wasn’t worth it for me. If you look below the hood of most of these tools they are Grammarly based. Grammarly has an API. I’m not impressed. Never tried Qillbot but I am suspicious of the cost. Lastly I have been using Langtool. It is a solid basic tool that is not very expensive if you want to go paid. Your reviews are great and appreciated. I worked on tools like this myself. Best, Randy.

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RBAR's avatar

Error?

The premium version is $199.95 per month to $8.33, depending on whether you pay monthly, quarterly, or annually.

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

Thanks for the careful read and the call out! It's been corrected. Apparently, Grammarly didn't read my mind and flag the error!

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RBAR's avatar

Best thing I've read here and I will upgrade to paid based on this review. Thank you.

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Maryan Pelland's avatar

There isn't a writer on earth who wouldn't be blown away by this lovely comment, thank you! I'll keep providing high value to you and all my subscribers--I take this seriously. Is there anything you'd like me to write about in particular?

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Charles Bastille's avatar

Thanks for the comprehensive reviews, Maryan. I've never heard of Quillbot but, based on your description, it doesn't sound like it's for me.I've been using the free version of Grammarly for years. Not a fan of the paid version. Too many bogus styling suggestions for my taste. It's almost like it wants my writing to get flagged as AI.

But I do love the automatic spell correct as I type. I haven't been a good typist since I took Mr. Simpkins' typing class as a freshman in highschool.

Sometimes I just let my fumbling fingers misspell a word because I've learned what type of words Grammarly corrects, lol.

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Dec 15
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Maryan Pelland's avatar

Yikes! I'm going to blame my fat fingers and sticky keyboard! Thanks Max!

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