Alex Reszelska urges writers to embrace imperfect human language

5 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 5

Writing from Australia, the Polish-born journalist says English learned from age 10 and years of editing taught her that mistakes, typos and awkward phrasing help form a writer’s voice.
She argues AI-generated prose is often technically polished but emotionally empty, flattening language and risking a generation of children who no longer struggle with words enough to develop taste and originality.
Reszelska cites Joseph Conrad, Shakespeare and children’s fiction to argue living language is inherently messy, and that authenticity, experimentation and even failure matter more than machine-like perfection.

Is championing 'imperfect' human writing elitist when AI helps millions communicate with clarity for the first time?

As AI trains on its own generic writing, are we creating an inescapable 'algorithmic monoculture' of language and thought?

When we outsource writing's struggle to AI, are we sacrificing our ability to think critically for the sake of convenience?