I personally do not blog, except for this course since having a blog was part of our assignment. I saw that some of my peers actually used Tumblr and similar apps to complete for this task. I decided to use a text message app and this is what I got:
My first thought with algorithm and predictive text is how lazy we have become. I was working on my linking assignment, one of these was Task 4: manual script and potato printing. These two tasks although not directly linked, they are scenarios of how technology has facilitated our work. Hence making us lazy.
English is not my native language, so when it comes to writing in another language I am not that confident and I always need to double check if I am writing correctly. I appreciate the spell check and grammar feature that the writing applications have because sometimes I might be expressing in a way that English do not usually do.
I am not an English writer, but using the predictive text, definitely did not help that much. I feel that the words that the app offered were very simple. Maybe because I was trying to express myself plainly. I wonder if I used more complex words, would it have been different? Even if I did, I felt that non of the predictive words that the app offered portrayed the way I communicate with others.
Writing is not my forte (not matter in which language), but I think that writing is similar to fingerprint or handwriting. It is a trait that distinguishes us from others. If I completely depended on predictive text, those who I usually communicate with might notice (sooner or later) that my writing has changed. I am not sure if that would be better or worse.
Would predictive text make all of us at a certain point sound the same? We are unique and that is what makes each of us special. The use of algorithms in public writing spaces might provoke readers to depreciate the “work” writers, journalist and bloggers do. I say “work” because it is not really written by them. I should say computer assisted article. Isn’t our trait or way of doing certain things that makes us special or be appreciated by others? How much value would our work have should everything be computer generated?