Great question — and kind of a loaded one, right? It definitely feels like reading and spelling skills have taken a nosedive in recent years. There are a few reasons people often point to:
Tech dependence: Autocorrect and predictive text mean we don’t have to think about spelling anymore. Same with grammar checkers. It’s like outsourcing our brains to our devices.
Less reading for fun: People, especially younger generations, tend to read less traditional material (like books or long articles) and more short-form content (texts, tweets, memes). That impacts vocabulary and attention to proper language.
Educational shifts: Some argue schools have moved away from foundational skills like phonics and spelling drills in favor of broader literacy or test-focused approaches. Others say students aren’t getting enough one-on-one help, especially in underfunded schools.
Language evolution: English is constantly changing. Spelling gets looser, grammar rules shift, and new words enter the mix all the time. Some see this as decline, others as evolution.
But what’s your take — are you seeing this in schools, at work, online?
ChatGPT said:
Great question — and kind of a loaded one, right? It definitely feels like reading and spelling skills have taken a nosedive in recent years. There are a few reasons people often point to:
Tech dependence: Autocorrect and predictive text mean we don’t have to think about spelling anymore. Same with grammar checkers. It’s like outsourcing our brains to our devices.
Less reading for fun: People, especially younger generations, tend to read less traditional material (like books or long articles) and more short-form content (texts, tweets, memes). That impacts vocabulary and attention to proper language.
Educational shifts: Some argue schools have moved away from foundational skills like phonics and spelling drills in favor of broader literacy or test-focused approaches. Others say students aren’t getting enough one-on-one help, especially in underfunded schools.
Language evolution: English is constantly changing. Spelling gets looser, grammar rules shift, and new words enter the mix all the time. Some see this as decline, others as evolution.
But what’s your take — are you seeing this in schools, at work, online?
Thank you for thinking for me. I was afraid of doing that for myself.
(I get that your comment is tongue-in-cheek, not sure everyone else will)
I was about to downvote the AI slop, but your reply gave it enough context that Imma leave it alone.
Ironic that you’re using ChatGPT when the answer is quite literally ChatGPT
Yes a two year old tech broke people’s brains 20 years ago. If chatgpt broke spelling what broke your concept of causality?
People had bad spelling before chatgpt
Bad grammar as well. I see posts all the time where people don’t even put periods at the ends of their sentences
ahem
(the first one is still there, you need to remove it or replace it with an exclamation mark so more people understand it)
Lol. It’s close enough for government work.