I found this week’s task to be quite challenging and frustrating. The task reminded me of the auto-correct feature available on phones and how auto-correct has caused for some interesting and hilarious conversations between people. At first, I was extremely hesitant to let the predictive text feature take over. I found myself ignoring the predictive text options and typing away my thoughts at the beginning. It took me a couple of tries before I became more comfortable with letting the predictive text take over. Even then, I was not at all satisfied or happy with the way the microblog turned out. I feel like it does not sound like me at all and the words do not echo my thoughts or opinions on the subject. I felt frustrated not being able to correct the grammar or syntax in the microblog and above all, what was most frustrating was the fact that the sentences being generated were not coherent and did not make any sense (as you can read from above). I feel as if I have read statements similar to the ones in my microblog in other blogs and comments made online such as on social media platforms.

This exercise really hit home the idea that although algorithms are cool and are meant to make tasks (such as writing) easier, they do not necessarily do so in an effective way and may end up becoming more problematic than helpful. For someone such as an English Language Learner, predictive text might be a feature that the person might be relieved to have as a tool, however, if they were to rely heavily on this feature, they may be writing content that does not truly reflect their ideas and opinions. If they were to write content for a public blog or writing space, they may even end up writing something that might stir up some controversy or angry comments from their readers. Although predictive text can be a handy tool, it should be used with caution.