Dear AI, Can You Teach Yourself About Grammar?

 

                                                   Dear AI

Please don’t read this the wrong way.  

The fact is I think you’re really cool. You’ve taken pride of place on my iPhone’s app screen. That little green swirling icon.  And I’m quite sure my friends are getting tired of me telling them all the super things you can do. I even showed you off to my 95-year-old Mom the other day. We were having lunch  – “Mom, watch this.  I’m going to ask this app, ChatGPT, to write you a thoughtful letter telling you how much I enjoy visiting you, even though I have to travel to FL”. In less than 30 seconds, I was reading the sweet letter out loud to my Mom.  “Better than Hallmark,” she proclaimed.  

Your quick answers and info are breathtaking.  You make it look so simple.

 Just this week, I asked you why the Belmont Stakes is going to be held in Saratoga this year. on Wednesday, I asked, in off-peak hours, which is the cheaper ride into Manhattan from JFK – Uber of Taxi?  

The real marvels are things like when you generated a show-stopping answer to my late-night musing – “Are there similarities between Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations and Buddhism? ( I got the idea from watching Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers.)

You should also know I’m not ready to be an AI groupie.  Chomsky’s prescient reflections on human language can keep me up at night. 

But my AI need right now is very mundane.  Pedestrian even. 

Problem:

I keep trying to get ChatGPT to rewrite complex health and medical information in non-complex language. (I’ve spent decades studying what average people can understand and use about diseases, medications, symptoms, and... pandemics.)  

There’s decades of evidence showing that at least ½ of the adults in the US have low health literacy – struggle to read and understand a lot of health information.  It’s been called a “silent killer” – my friends and I even wrote that sentence in book.  The book took us two years.  You could probably have written it in half hr. Oh well. 

Three basic syntactic strategies for simplifying the language of in message:

• explain complex words and medical jargon, 

• unpack complex syntax (don’t rely on relative and embedded clauses and phrases), 

• and, strengthen syntactic cohesion across sentences and paragraphs. 

Here’s the problem I’m hoping you can fix. 

Whenever I ask ChatGPT to simplify the language of some typically hard-to-read health information, it just doesn’t get the job done. 

Sometimes, it substitutes higher-level words with easier words.

Sometimes, it cuts a long sentence into two shorter sentences. 

However, it still doesn’t get that interrupting a main sentence with a qualifying clause or adding phrases is harder to read.  

A compound / complex sentence isn’t helping the reader. 

Here's an example of what I mean.  I asked Chat GPT this today? 

First I asked  - Do I have to stay out of the sun if I am taking amoxicillin?

It is not necessary to avoid sun exposure while taking amoxicillin. However, some people may experience increased sensitivity to sunlight as a side effect of the medication. If you notice that your skin is becoming more sensitive or if you develop a rash or sunburn while taking amoxicillin, it may be best to limit your time in the sun and use sunscreen to protect your skin. It is always a good idea to consult with your healthcare provider if you have any concerns about sun exposure while taking medication.

Then I asked - Can you say this in simpler sentences?

You don't have to stay out of the sun while taking amoxicillin, but some people may be more sensitive to sunlight because of the medication. If your skin gets more sensitive or you get a rash or sunburn, it's a good idea to limit your time in the sun and use sunscreen. Talk to your doctor if you're worried about being in the sun while taking amoxicillin.

I PROMISE NOT TO TREE DIAGRAM THIS.  ( Even though my 7th grade teacher, Mrs Laughter, would have been thrilled).

In the ChatGPT rewrite, the first sentence is structurally as complex as the original sentence.  It combines multiple clauses and phrases and links them through coordination and subordination.  Millions of people get tripped up on this type of sentence structure. 

Let me show you what I mean: 

- The sentence starts with an independent clause: "You don't have to stay out of the sun."

- It is followed by a subordinate clause that modifies the verb in the main clause: "while taking amoxicillin."

- The conjunction "but" connects the first independent clause to the second independent clause.

- The second independent clause, "some people may be more sensitive to sunlight," is modified by a subordinate clause: "because of the medication."

The last  2 sentences are really complex:

- The first sentence has a complex structure with an independent clause ("it's a good idea...") and a dependent clause signaled by "If" ("If your skin gets more sensitive or you get a rash or sunburn").

- The second sentence is a compound-complex sentence. The main clause ("Talk to your doctor") is followed by a dependent clause introduced by "if" ("if you're worried about being in the sun while taking amoxicillin"), which contains an additional dependent clause ("while taking amoxicillin").

So, in closing, what I was hoping, because I've been told you're learning all the time, could you work on learning about simplifying sentences well - losing some of the conjunction and subordination.  It would really help things out for a lot of people. 

Thank you very much, 

your friendly user, 

Chris