Have you ever read a self-published book that has not had an editor’s eye cast across it?
If you think that all you need to be an Editor is a sound knowledge of spelling and grammar, then reading a poorly edited book will show you that there is a whole lot more to the skill of editing.
While the Editor’s role is to proofread: correct spelling, grammar and layout, and also in some cases to check facts that have not been substantiated, the copy-edit is perhaps the more important part of their skillset. Checking content, using a consistent style and rewording or sometimes completely rewriting a piece. This is the key to a proper edit and one that can dramatically alter a piece. Characters and plot may be changed, along with sentence structure.
Editors can also perform what is known as a “Beta Read” of a book, which will include feedback on the quality of the storytelling and clarity of the plot.
A good Editor can make very simple written work comprehensive and engaging. A well-written and well-edited copy captures the attention of the reader and leads them to act as the author intended, whether it is a commercial piece of writing aimed at influencing a purchase, or a novel that aims to stir emotion.
Artificial Intelligence tools have been developed to assist with the editing process, for example, the tools embedded within MS Word, which have been around for many years, and more recently web browser extensions like Grammarly have enabled proofreading to become more automated.
But, unless your AI tool knows your company’s style guide, it cannot follow it. Subject matter expertise is essential when editing to ensure the right terminology is used. Unless your AI tool has been taught the rules, it will not be able to discern when to use one term over another, which may have slang connotations, or may confuse an audience that has a certain level of knowledge and experience in an industry. These tools are also fallible. Even in writing this article and looking for evidence, we found a statement about proofreading with two grammatical errors in it.
A human editor is likely to have a good knowledge of the intended audience for a piece, their motivations, problems they need to solve, areas of interest, etc. They may even be able to put themselves in the audience’s shoes, and editors may be chosen simply for that reason. AI cannot replicate this unless detailed commands are given – by someone who knows the audience!
A good writer has a purpose in mind when compiling a piece. A good editor will either spot this, or will be able to question the writer on their intent if it is unclear.
You could argue that an AI tool will improve in time, given more input, but certainly where written content is concerned, topics will vary, colloquial language changes over time and popular phrases fall in and out of vogue. We believe that AI, in the near future at least, cannot keep up with our varied, nuanced language, and without the human experience, it cannot understand your motivations or emotions and can’t relate to you. Therefore, the language produced is unlikely to have any emotive effect or call a reader to action.
Editors in Automotive
We spoke to Darren Moss, Deputy Digital Editor of What Car? To get an insight into the automotive editing process and how it is being affected by the advent of AI:
AI has the potential to help editors enormously. Whether it’s providing SEO analysis of existing content and suggesting improvements to hit ever-evolving Google guidelines, shaping new content by suggesting key themes or questions to answer, transcribing interviews accurately and quickly, or simply condensing lengthy documents into salient points, writers can use AI to make the business of journalism more efficient.
However, AI-written content is not yet at the level where it can write with the authority, the context, or the expertise of a human writer – and I feel that is especially true of content where expertise is key, such as automotive. For example, while an AI model might be able to tell me the facts about a new car, it can’t tell me how that car compares with its rivals, and how its features might be beneficial for potential buyers.
That’s why my feeling is that while AI can assist writers, it won’t be replacing us any time soon. Indeed, it is my feeling that AI should not replace a writer who is an expert – after all, automotive readers may be basing significant buying decisions based on recommendations made by our titles.
