Spell Checking a Year's Worth of Hacker News
7 days ago
- #kindness-automation
- #language-models
- #spell-checking
- The author explores using language models to automate spell-checking in blogs as a kind, automatable, and boring task.
- A pilot project using Hacker News posts identified spelling errors and authors' emails, with a high positive response rate from authors.
- Manual review was necessary to reduce false positives, highlighting challenges like British vs. American spelling and slang.
- The project resulted in 837 confirmed errors across 404 emails, with a 50% response rate from authors.
- Authors appreciated the gesture, with some noting spelling errors as proof of human authorship.
- The experiment cost $28 and generated 185 thank-you emails, demonstrating a high return on kindness.
- Future applications could include checking math/logic errors in preprints or inconsistencies in reports.