Autocorrect Deemed 'Unauthorized Lexicographer' in Formal Academic Complaint

Linguistics professor Dr. Samuel Corpus has filed a formal complaint with the International Association of Lexicography arguing that smartphone autocorrect systems constitute 'unauthorized and unaccountable lexicographic authorities' that are 'reshaping the English language without credentials, oversight, or remorse.'

'Every time autocorrect changes a word, it is making a lexicographic judgment,' Dr. Corpus said. 'It is deciding which words are real and which are not. It is enforcing spelling standards. It is, in effect, a dictionary — but one that has never been peer-reviewed, has no editorial board, and was programmed by engineers who, with all due respect, do not know what a diphthong is.'

The complaint, which runs to 28 pages, catalogs specific instances in which autocorrect systems have overridden legitimate English words with incorrect alternatives, including changing 'whom' to 'who' (97 percent of the time), 'its' to 'it's' (84 percent), and the word 'lexicographer' to 'lexicography' (100 percent, which Dr. Corpus took personally).

'My phone does not believe I am a lexicographer,' he said. 'It corrects my profession every time I type it. It thinks I am a lexicography. I am not a lexicography. I am a person.'

The Association has acknowledged the complaint but noted it has no regulatory authority over technology companies.

'We agree that autocorrect functions as a de facto prescriptive authority,' said Association president Dr. Margaux Lemma. 'But our jurisdiction extends to dictionaries, not operating systems. We would need to classify autocorrect as a dictionary first, which opens philosophical questions we are not prepared to address.'

Dr. Corpus has proposed that all autocorrect algorithms be submitted for peer review before deployment, a suggestion that Apple, Google, and Samsung have not responded to.

'They won't even acknowledge me,' he said. 'Possibly because my emails keep getting autocorrected into nonsense.'