Why are AI image generators bad at spelling?

While AI models can generate impressive images and texts, they often struggle with spelling and finer details

Image credit: Image Creator from Microsoft Designer/DALL.E and Canva

This morning, I came across an excellent op-ed courtesy of Amanda Silberling (TechCrunch). The article highlights the limitations of artificial intelligence in spelling, particularly when generating images, despite its prowess in other tasks such as acing standardized tests, chess, or code debugging.

Here are my key take-aways:

• While AI can generate impressive images and texts, it often struggles with spelling and finer details, such as letters.

• The underlying technology for image and text generation differs, but both struggle with details like spelling due to their reliance on pattern recognition rather than understanding language rules.

• Some AI image generators avoid generating text altogether to sidestep the issue. 

• Engineers attempt to mitigate these issues by augmenting datasets, but spelling problems are expected to persist due to the complexity of languages.

• However, these shortcomings can be useful in identifying AI-generated content and misinformation.