3 ms·

"sneak peak" Sigh https://slate.com/culture/2012/01/stealth-mountain-the-twitter-bot-devoted-to-a-single-grammatical-error.html https://slate.com/culture/2012

by trelane 8mo ago

"sneak peak" Sigh https://slate.com/culture/2012/01/stealth-mountain-the-twitter-bot-devoted-to-a-single-grammatical-error.html https://slate.com/culture/2012/01/stealth-mountain-the-twitt...

sowbug 8mo ago
One advantage of AI-generated copy is it generally doesn't make mistakes like this. The only mistake I've noticed, besides inexplicably lapsing into Chinese mid-sentence, is parallel construction errors, like "This product is fast, lightweight, and won't break the bank!"
- MarkusQ 8mo ago
  > parallel construction errors, like "This product is fast, lightweight, and won't break the bank!" I'm failing to see the error. That seems like perfectly sound, vernacular English.
  - sowbug 8mo ago
    The first two of the three are adjectives, each connected to the subject by the one "is," and the third is a verb phrase not using the "is." Ideally they'd be all adjectives using the "is," or all phrases supplying their own verbs. Not the worst error in the world, but it stands out in LLM text that is otherwise remarkably nit-free.
    - MarkusQ 8mo ago
      But is it even an error? You are parsing it as a single list, but it could just as well be parsed as "subj ((is {a,b}) and vp-predicate)". I guess you could argue that the first list needs an "and"? That's fair I suppose.
      - sowbug 8mo ago
        (We have descended into one of the deeper circles of grammar hell. I will remind you that you're free to leave at any time.) Yes, exactly. English grammar actually doesn't require the "and" to end a list (leaving it out is called "asyndeton" if you're curious). A good example is Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "... and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." So after all this, there actually is a way to analyze the example that is strictly valid. But most people would look askance at the standalone sentence "This product is fast, lightweight." That is, I suppose, unless someone like Abraham Lincoln worked it into his next speech.
        MarkusQ 8mo ago
        Well, if we're going by what "most people would accept" we should probably allow: * This product is fast/lightweight. * This product is fast. Lightweight. But yeah, this way lies madness. Unless we passed somewhere it in the dark back there.

by trelane 8mo ago

"sneak peak" Sigh https://slate.com/culture/2012/01/stealth-mountain-the-twitter-bot-devoted-to-a-single-grammatical-error.html https://slate.com/culture/2012/01/stealth-mountain-the-twitt...

sowbug 8mo ago

One advantage of AI-generated copy is it generally doesn't make mistakes like this. The only mistake I've noticed, besides inexplicably lapsing into Chinese mid-sentence, is parallel construction errors, like "This product is fast, lightweight, and won't break the bank!"

MarkusQ 8mo ago
> parallel construction errors, like "This product is fast, lightweight, and won't break the bank!" I'm failing to see the error. That seems like perfectly sound, vernacular English.
- sowbug 8mo ago
  The first two of the three are adjectives, each connected to the subject by the one "is," and the third is a verb phrase not using the "is." Ideally they'd be all adjectives using the "is," or all phrases supplying their own verbs. Not the worst error in the world, but it stands out in LLM text that is otherwise remarkably nit-free.
  - MarkusQ 8mo ago
    But is it even an error? You are parsing it as a single list, but it could just as well be parsed as "subj ((is {a,b}) and vp-predicate)". I guess you could argue that the first list needs an "and"? That's fair I suppose.
    - sowbug 8mo ago
      (We have descended into one of the deeper circles of grammar hell. I will remind you that you're free to leave at any time.) Yes, exactly. English grammar actually doesn't require the "and" to end a list (leaving it out is called "asyndeton" if you're curious). A good example is Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "... and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." So after all this, there actually is a way to analyze the example that is strictly valid. But most people would look askance at the standalone sentence "This product is fast, lightweight." That is, I suppose, unless someone like Abraham Lincoln worked it into his next speech.
      - MarkusQ 8mo ago
        Well, if we're going by what "most people would accept" we should probably allow: * This product is fast/lightweight. * This product is fast. Lightweight. But yeah, this way lies madness. Unless we passed somewhere it in the dark back there.