“As of yet, the machine doesn’t understand language as well as humans. And it certainly doesn’t understand it as well as the tiny subset of humanity known as sub-editors.”
In the time of artificial intelligence (AI), the sub-editor remains an indispensable gatekeeper – one-half of what content moderation tech company Kinzen calls the "human algorithm".
And one that not only complements and enhances technological advancements – this is no time to be a Luddite – but that is also able to police how ‘the machine’ itself performs, day-to-day and over time.
Why is this so important? Because agency life with AI is not a straight road. However useful, and this can vary wildly, it offers viable, not reliable content – anything AI provides us with will also need careful handling, and expertise. As The Guardian points out, “LLMs don’t learn about relationships between facts, but between tokens” – the units of data processed by algorithms.
At Formative, our human sub-editors are essential to every team pod and the cornerstone of our quality control process. As custodians of our content truth, they need to be better acquainted than most with the AI tools we’re using – equally aware of the efficiencies and limitations they might bring.
Here’s a glimpse beyond the everyday factual, grammatical and readability checks our sub-editors perform to the micro-processes that make the difference.
Quality control
Meticulously checking for errors and inconsistencies that humans and AI might overlook.
Applying human finesse
Complex data set and stat verification
Contextual understanding
Grasping the nuances of content, ensuring accuracy and coherence.
Cultural sensitivity
Audience awareness
Subtext and implications
Historical overview
Ethical oversight
Addressing/flagging potential biases to guarantee that content adheres to ethical standards.
Legal considerations
Transparency
Fair representation
Creative input
Adding depth and originality to articles, scripts and social messaging, refining the narrative as needed.
Crafting SEO-savvy headers, leads, subheads and conclusions
Injecting personality
Visual storytelling – use of appropriately sourced page furniture
Adaptability
Adjusting to client-specific writing styles and formats, maintaining consistent style, pace, flow and tone across assets.
Editing across different formats, media
Awareness of evolving trends/shifting priorities – in marcomms and on the global stage
In-depth client/sector knowledge
Editorial judgement
Navigating complex decisions about content and presentation based on the latest client intel.
Aligning tone with the message, brand and audience
What stays and what goes?
Together, these deeply human qualities enhance the value of our output and digital toolkit, ensuring bespoke content that is not only efficient, but also rich in quality and relevance.
