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A comment on ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth Preserving. Parent comment

Re:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth Preserving by jfirebaugh on Friday January 13, 2023 @11:59AM (#34370501)
It fixed some things (“ChatGPT have”, “It’s has”) but changed the meaning of the first sentence and introduced a misplaced modifier (“As a non-native English speaker, ChatGPT…”).
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Re:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth Preserving by samwestdev on Friday January 13, 2023 @12:23PM (#34370823)
Can you please explain how that is considered a misplaced modifier?
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Re:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth Preserving by jfirebaugh on Friday January 13, 2023 @12:38PM (#34371025)
Sure. To be more precise, it's a "dangling modifier" [1]. The modifying clause "As a non-native English speaker" intends to refer to the narrator, who is using ChatGPT to improve their text. But the sentence as constructed, where this clause is followed by the subject "ChatGPT", might be read as implying that ChatGPT is a non-native English speaker. The original beginning "I am not a native English speaker..." was clearer.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangling_modifier

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Re:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth Preserving by markrages on Friday January 13, 2023 @12:27PM (#34370888)
The modified version is saying that ChatGPT is the non-native speaker, not the original poster. It is a different meaning.

It is probably wrong too. ChatGPT is a native English speaker as far as I can tell.

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