While writing something in either Korean or English, I find that there are certain tones of voice and word choices of my own in those writings. It shows even more clearly when I reread them for proofreading.
When I read my writing from the perspective of another person (reader), my own personality stands out more clearly to my eyes. Writing something and reading something I’ve written are completely different experiences.
However, when I ask AI to proofread my writing, it just changes it completely. It not only revises grammar or spelling errors, but pretty much rewrites the thing in the name of suggesting better words and natural phrases. While those revisions tend to be better and more natural in a way, the revised writing doesn’t feel like mine anymore. You see, I haven’t come up with those phrases, yet I don’t really use them on a daily basis anyway.
I therefore try to use AI as nothing more than an error-checking tool. I’m open-minded to those better and more natural words and phrases AI suggests with a learner’s attitude, yet I would rather keep my rough and a bit unnatural writing. Why? Because that’s more like me.
One of the reasons for learning a language is this.
After all, there is ‘me’ in my spoken words and writings, and I want to be the one who chooses words and phrases, not an AI translator or interpreter.
I learn a language as a tool to voice myself in my own way.
It may be a bit crude, yet solely mine, at least.