“How Do You Spell It?” “Idunno”
How Do You Spell It? is a cult website for every Bulgarian online who cares about writing correctly. We meet its creator, Pavlina Varbanova. How do we write in the digital world? Which mistakes are searched for most often? Is it time to drop the needless rule of the full definite article, and why does it matter to take care of the words we load with our messages?
02“It’s Not Loanwords That Erode the Foundations of a Language”
Kak se pishe? (How Do You Spell It?) is a website that has become hugely important to life online, where its creator, Pavlina Varbanova, gives volunteer advice on spelling, grammar and punctuation in all their nuances. Our first conversation is still the most-read story on Digital Stories, so on the eve of May 24, the day Bulgaria celebrates its alphabet and culture, we meet again to continue it. We talk about the words that shape us and how we treat them, about the holiday and its sometimes false pomp, about words turned into weapons and the technologies that give them enormous power to destroy.
03Digital Stories Turns Two! Which Articles Did You Read the Most?
Digital Stories turns two today! Which of the 219 pieces published over that time were read the most? Topics well worth not missing, that much is certain… My heartfelt thanks to every one of: – More than 6,800 followers of Digital Stories on Facebook; – More than 3,600 followers on LinkedIn; – More than 500 people who subscribed to the mailing list; – More than 190,000 readers who visited the site. Over these two years the project: – Twice won the Technology and Innovation category of the most hotly contested journalism competition, the Web Report awards, and once the competition organized by the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies. – Ran regular rubrics in Manager magazine and on bTV's business news. It was featured on bTV, BNT 1, BNT 2, Bulgarian National Radio, Darik Radio, BTA, Dir.bg, the magazines InGlobo and Osem, and many other media; – Most important of all! It drew attention to a range of topics that grow more important and pressing with every passing day. Thank you! Every read and every share matters!
04(In)human Errors: Can AI Be Your Proofreader?
At a time when fewer and fewer media outlets, and even publishers, trust specialists to watch over spelling, could artificial intelligence (AI) turn out to be a useful assistant? It is time for a telling spelling experiment with some of the most powerful models around. We all (we hope) believe that online we are now judged by our spelling rather than our clothes, and since we communicate more and more through written text, the way we write reveals so much to the other person. Can AI help us write correctly?
05Hating, Outsourcing, Branding… Must We Always Parrot English?
“We need to talk and think about our language, about what it will look like and the state in which we will leave it to our children!” How is our language changing, and are we growing careless with it? Why do we now accept foreign words uncritically instead of trying to explain them? Are all languages doomed to be gradually influenced and “swallowed” by English? Rada Gankova works as a conference interpreter in Brussels. She has a particularly interesting view of the word and of our attitude toward it. In the capital of the EU she teaches Bulgarian to people who translate from our language into other European languages. For her own satisfaction, she also translates literature. One article on her blog brought together the pepper roaster and the air fryer. What could they possibly have in common? The subject is very important: how our own attitude toward language is changing. We used to have imagination and, when needed, we “built” words, while today we take them ready-made, and so we leave them without logic or context. And what hope, then, for the world of AI, IT and high tech…
06Happy Birthday, Digital Stories. Time for Presents!
Exactly a year ago, on March 1, 2021, the Digital Stories site was born: a small island of essays and reportage about the latest technologies and the challenges they put in front of us. Together we set out on a journey where two worlds meet, the humanities and technology, in search of our shared future as a species. Now it is time for a short look back at the year, and then for presents. They are definitely worth it!
07The EdAItor Test: Can Artificial Intelligence Edit a Text?
While we debate whether artificial intelligence will ever write indistinguishably from a human (and it already can!), everything quietly changed. Whether we realize it or not, we now read algorithm-generated texts every day. The latest undeniable proof surfaced on social media a month ago: some of the most respected Bulgarian media outlets uncritically published texts riddled with the telltale sentences that unmistakably show they were written by ChatGPT or its kin, and that were not even read by their “author” before going online. So can't we invite AI to save us… as an editor? Not long ago we tested how some of the most advanced AI models perform as proofreaders, and now it is time to raise the bar. In our next major experiment, we put AI's skills as an editor to the test.
08What Should the Next Digital Story Be?
Can you think of a story that deserves to be told? Let me know, and if your idea becomes a piece here, you'll get a personal gift. Digital Stories turns three today! It's time to take stock of what has been achieved so far, time for you to have your say, and finally, time… for some unexpected news.
