Published on
July 11, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
September 25, 2023.
The present perfect continuous is a verb tense used to refer to an action that started sometime in the past and is still ongoing. It also sometimes describes an action that was just completed, as long as it’s still relevant to the present (e.g., “I’ve been working hard all day, and now I’m getting some rest”).
The present perfect continuous consists of “have been” or “has been” (depending on the subject) followed by the present participle (“-ing” form) of the main verb.
Published on
July 10, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
September 29, 2023.
The present continuous (also called the present progressive) is a verb tense used to refer to a temporary action that is currently taking place. It can also describe future plans (e.g., “I am throwing a party next week”).
The present continuous is formed by combining a form of the auxiliary verb “be” with the present participle (“-ing” form) of another verb (e.g., “I am swimming”).
Published on
July 4, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
August 15, 2023.
Generative AI is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to generate original media such as text, images, video, or audio in response to prompts from users. Popular generative AI applications include ChatGPT, Bard, DALL-E, and Midjourney.
Most generative AI is powered by deep learning technologies such as large language models (LLMs). These are models trained on a vast quantity of data (e.g., text) to recognize patterns so that they can produce appropriate responses to the user’s prompts.
This technology has seen rapid growth in sophistication and popularity in recent years, especially since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022. The ability to generate content on demand has major implications in a wide variety of contexts, such as academia and creative industries.
Just checking in is a standard phrase used to start an email (or other message). It’s used to follow up on a previous message or conversation and ask for an update on a previously discussed or ongoing project. It’s meant to convey a friendly, no-pressure tone but encourage the reader to respond.
However, we recommend avoiding this phrasing, since it’s so overused and can come across as passive-aggressive. In follow-up emails, it’s important to incentivize the addressee to reply without coming across as pushy or disingenuous.
What should you write instead? We suggest a few good alternatives below.
Yours truly is a standard sign-off that you can write before your name to end an email or letter. It combines the possessive pronoun “yours” with the adverb “truly” (be careful not to misspell it as “truely“) to express a sense of honesty toward the person you’re addressing.
Traditionally, it’s used when you write to someone for the first time, without having interacted with them previously. “Sincerely (yours)” is used instead when writing to someone you’ve corresponded with before. But this distinction is not strictly observed nowadays.
To Whom It May Concern is a formal greeting that can be used to start an email or letter addressed to someone whose name you don’t know or to no one in particular. It’s still used, but it’s considered somewhat old-fashioned and impersonal. There are better options in most contexts.
Using this salutation can suggest to the recipient that you’re sending out a mass email to many different people or that you couldn’t be bothered to learn anything about the person to whom you’re writing.
Even if you don’t know the name of the person you’re writing to, it’s usually best to either find out or use a job title or department name to make your salutation more personal.
Examples: To Whom It May Concern alternativesDear Operations Team, …
Published on
June 20, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
August 15, 2023.
ChatGPT, the popular generative AI writing tool, is constantly in the news these days. You might be wondering what all the hype is about and what exactly it can (and can’t) do.
The novelty of ChatGPT, and the reason it’s big news in the AI world and beyond, is its ability to generate unique, fluent, and largely accurate responses to pretty much any question or prompt.
Rather than being designed for one narrow task, ChatGPT is a generalist: it excels at a wide variety of activities, from coding to writing. Below, we explore 10 surprising things ChatGPT can do—and a few that it struggles with (so far).
Published on
June 15, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
September 11, 2023.
No doubt you’ve heard something about ChatGPT, the hugely popular AI-powered chatbot. If you haven’t tried it out for yourself already, it’s easy to get started. We’ll walk you through:
NoteUniversities and other institutions are still developing their stances on how ChatGPT and similar tools may be used. Always follow your institution’s guidelines over any suggestions you read online. Check out our guide to current university policies on AI writing for more information.
You can also learn more about how to use AI tools responsibly on our AI writing resources page.
Published on
June 6, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 27, 2023.
A summary generator (also called a summarizer, summarizing tool, or text summarizer) is a kind of AI writing tool that automatically generates a short summary of a text. Many tools like this are available online, but what are the best options out there?
To find out, we tested 11 popular summary generators (all available free online, some with a premium version). We used two texts: a short news article and a longer academic journal article. We evaluated tools based on the clarity, accuracy, and concision of the summaries produced.
Our research indicates that the best summarizer available right now is the one offered by QuillBot. You can use it for free to summarize texts of up to 1,200 words—up to 6,000 with a premium subscription.
DisclaimerScribbr is affiliated with QuillBot through our parent company, Learneo, and our own summarizer is powered by QuillBot. However, care was taken to assess all tools based on the same factors—clarity, concision, and accuracy—without giving any unfair advantage to Scribbr or QuillBot.
Published on
June 2, 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
September 6, 2023.
AI detectors are tools designed to detect when a text was generated by an AI writing tool like ChatGPT. AI content may look convincingly human in some cases, but these tools aim to provide a way of checking for it. We’ve investigated just how accurate they really are.
To do so, we used a selection of testing texts including fully ChatGPT-generated texts, mixed AI-and-human texts, fully human texts, and texts modified by paraphrasing tools. We ran all these texts through 10 different AI detectors to see how accurately each tool labeled them.
Our research indicates that if you’re willing to pay, the most accurate AI detector available right now is Winston AI, which identified 84% of our texts correctly. If you don’t want to pay, Sapling is the best choice: it’s totally free and has 68% accuracy, the highest score among free tools.
