Let’s talk grammar—getting it right and why humans are still integral to the editing and proofreading process. As a professional writer and editor, I’ll admit I have a vested interest in the topic, but I think we can all agree it’s important. Boring? Perhaps. But necessary? Yes.
So then the question comes—how carefully do you need to edit and proofread? We want things to be generally correct, but do they have to be, like, totally correct? Can you get by with a few little typos and errors? Can you switch an en dash for an em dash without the world falling apart?
Well, yes. Of course. Often, you don’t need to edit or proofread anything.
But if you want to take your emails, business communications, or reports to the next level, an AI program like Grammarly (or your spellcheck in Word and other editing tools) can help you. A lot of people wonder, “is Grammarly good for proofreading?” and my opinion is as follows: for your emails, quick messages to colleagues, writing that won’t be published, or the first draft of anything—Grammarly is good enough. It’ll catch your glaring typos and make helpful grammar suggestions to take things up a notch.
And, in fact, I am using it right now. It just prompted me to capitalize the G in Grammarly, which I have accepted. It’s also suggesting that I remove the phrase “in fact” but I like it, so will ignore that prompt.
Grammarly, or AI more generally, can be a massively useful tool that will help your writing—no doubt about it. But there are many times when it is not enough. Let’s explore it further as I build a case for why human editing is still important in this age of AI.
When AI doesn’t cut it
I’ve already told you I use Grammarly and I’ll go a step further: I rely on it. As a full-time writer and editor, I leverage Grammarly to help clean up my writing. It’s a very good first pass to catch grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes.
Emphasis on first pass. I always do a second or third pass through my writing manually, carefully reading it back to ensure there aren’t additional errors and inconsistencies. (Or I don’t and live to regret it.)
Grammarly will often:
- Miss things. I regularly find spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes Grammarly didn’t catch when I’m manually proofreading.
- Suggest incorrect things. Some suggestions are wrong—exhibits A & B below.
Beyond this, Grammarly (and any other AI program) cannot account for style and tone the way a human can. Many writers, myself included, have a unique voice or way of writing that sometimes requires breaking the grammar rules to adequately convey.
Brands and companies might also run into this. Their tone, POV, style, or ~vibe~ might not fit into the “proper” grammar rules and are therefore marked as wrong or incorrect. If you completely rely on your AI editing tools, you may eliminate what makes a piece of writing interesting and engaging. It’s my strong opinion that only a human can discern if improper grammar is worth it to convey a point. Only a human can decide if it sounds better to break the grammar rule for the sake of clarity or colloquialism. Exhibit C below:
For these reasons, AI editing tools like Grammarly are not good enough when it comes to professional writing and published content. You will likely have mistakes and it will be harder to infuse style and personality into your writing.
To sum it up: humans still matter for editing and proofreading purposes. Your reports, emails, blog posts, articles, newsletters, social media copy, letters, executive summaries, presentations, press releases, whitepapers, and everything else you could possibly write deserve more than blindly accepting automatic spelling and grammar corrections.
And you can give them more with one of these two strategies:
- Know the shortcomings of AI in editing and proofreading & commit to manually reviewing your work. Again, some writing is not that important and typos or errors aren’t a big deal. Other writing is important. You need to manually edit and proofread this work—take some extra time to review your writing, ensure AI is not leading you astray, and put the polish on your piece.
- Hire a professional. Whether it’s a lack of time, interest, or ability, hiring a professional editor can save your writing. We will account for your style, tone, and goals when coming to a piece of text and look at it with fresh eyes. We’ll spend time researching nitty-gritty grammar nuances and we know how to use a style guide to inform our work. We’ll save you time and, quite possibly, a few headaches.
If you’re into #2 and want a grammar nerd like me to review your work—let’s talk. I’d love to collaborate with you on your writing projects!
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