On the 7th of April, a tweet by Paul Graham broke the internet. The tweet said “Someone sent me a cold email proposing a novel project. Then I noticed it used the word “delve”.” Then he explained that the point of his tweet was not that he disliked the word “delve,” although he does, but that it’s a sign that text was written by ChatGPT.
Nigerians particularly felt slighted. The comments section was filled with comments from Nigerians. Here are some comments:
“Folks from certain parts of the world use certain words like “delve” in their sentences. I can tell you for free that Nigerians do. I do. A lot of immigrants who studied under the British system do.”
“delve” or “delve into” is a very common word in Nigeria and for Nigerians. Words like expatiate too which might not be common are used daily by many Nigerians.”
“I was using the word delve in stories I was writing way back in primary school!! For someone who read widely and wrote from a young age, attributing the word ‘delve’ to AI [CHATGPT] is simply preposterous.”
However, certain people agreed.
One person said:
“Delve, safeguard, robust, demystify, ‘in this digital world’,
all ChatGPT.
I am rejecting all content with any of these words.
There is no problem with these words, but they make human language mechanical.”
Someone else said: “See also: foster, embark, empower, harness, unlock, unleash and crucial😅”
Hence, various debates have ensued from this conversation. Some of the major concerns are:
What Message was Paul Graham trying to pass?
The idea behind his message was to say that less is more. According to Paul, the mark of a good writer is the ability to use less words for better clarity. Apparently, the word “delve” is rather ambiguous. He also tried to say that the use of certain words can be an evidence of the use of AI in writing.
Is “delve” a big word or a CHATGPT word?
The questions are, is “delve” a big word? Is “delve” ambiguous, is “delve” not used in everyday english?
Well, “delve” is a pretty common word in various parts of the world. Especially in parts of the world colonized by Britain.
Many Nigerians grew up participating in dictations and spelling bees, which has endowed us with a very good command of the English Language. One thing that’s also bothersome is the fact that certain people might have lost job opportunities because of things like this. If he didn’t accept a proposal because of the word “delve” then so many other proposals with great potential could have gone to waste just because of the use of English.
However, we have learnt the following things:
Firstly, different cultures engage with the English language in diverse ways, so what’s acceptable in one context might seem unfamiliar in another, and neither approach is inherently superior.
Secondly, if someone uses language in a manner that’s unfamiliar to you, it doesn’t necessarily imply an attempt to appear superior or clever; it might simply reflect their own reality. For instance, words like ‘cough’ and ‘catarrh’ are commonplace in certain regions.
Lastly, even if AI models like ChatGPT use words like ‘delve,’ they were ultimately trained on human language data, not some foreign lexicon. So why make a fuss?
Ultimately, maintaining an open mind is crucial. Embracing diversity in thought, expression, and people is enriching. Rather than looking down on differences, it’s preferable to appreciate and learn from them. It’s better to acknowledge one’s ignorance and the choice to remain within a comfortable bubble of knowledge and perspective than to criticise.
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