• 3-minute read
• 24th October 2015

6 Things that make Humans Better at Proofreading than a Computer

One day, Skynet will undoubtedly conquer us all, whereupon we’ll have no choice but to acknowledge the superiority of our computer overlords. For now, however, there are still a few things that humans do better than any algorithm, including proofreading.

Microsoft Word’s automatic spellchecker, for instance, although a very handy tool, simply cannot compete with a human proofreader in certain respects. As such, when it comes to the following six things, technology alone may not be enough to make sure your academic writing is always at its very best.

1. Proper Nouns

   Computer spellcheckers can only recognise a certain number of common names (e.g., Jim, Jane, Henry, etc.) and places (Canberra, Victoria). More obscure proper nouns, including the names of cited authors, will not be recognised, so in these cases it makes sense to rely on good old-fashioned human judgement.

2. Homonyms

   The problem here is that automatic spellcheckers only flag words that are misspelled, not words that are misused. Consequently, if you mix up two words that sound similar but are spelled differently, such as ‘prince’ and ‘prints’, your spellchecker will not spot this error, while a human proofreader would.

3. Technical Terms

   Here the issue is the same as with proper nouns, in that a computer spellchecker simply can’t include enough words to cover all possible subjects. This is particularly troublesome in academic writing, where technical terminology is common.

4. Structure and Flow

   A good essay is one with a clearly structured argument that flows smoothly from one point to the next. Human proofreaders are experts at spotting problems with the structure of an essay, so can offer helpful advice about how to improve your work. An automatic spellchecker, on the other hand, couldn’t tell a PhD thesis from a lunch menu, so has literally no insight into how your writing is structured.

5. Consistency

   One important aspect of high-quality academic writing is consistent use of terms and citations, which is not something that computer spellcheckers typically spot. Most spellcheckers won’t even notice if you use two different spellings for the same word in the same document, such as ‘organise’ and ‘organize’, so the human brain definitely wins on this count.

6. Formatting and Presentation

   Finally, a human proofreader can also help you with the formatting and presentation of your work. This in turn boosts readability, which is almost as important as good grammar and spelling when it comes to having your work make a good first impression.