Paul Graham, the British-American scientist and author, has attracted criticism from Nigerians on X (formerly Twitter) after claiming the word ‘delve’ is only used by ChatGPT.
On Monday, Graham shared a post about how certain words are commonly used by Artificial Intelligence (AI) — the technology that mimics human intelligence to perform tasks.
Graham claimed words such as ‘delve’ and ‘burgeoning’ are not to be used in “spoken English”.
He argued that “people only use certain words when they are writing and want to sound clever”.
“Someone sent me a cold email proposing a novel project. Then I noticed it used the word ‘delve’,” he wrote on X.
“My point here is not that I dislike “delve,” though I do, but that it’s a sign that text was written by ChatGPT.”
However, several Nigerian users on X disagreed with the author; some of whom criticised him for being “blinded by the ripple effects of years of colonialism”.
A segment of users also raised concerns about how his remark could affect international students, while others said they preferred the “simplicity of American English”.
Graham’s tweet also sparked a conversation on the “unique” usage of the English language by Nigerians.
“A lot of folks who grew up in countries where English was not spoken actually use a lot of “written-first” words in their writing because that is how they learned the language,” a user wrote.
Another user wrote: “Lots of English speakers use delve. Reminds me of people that thought the words “palaver” and “vex” were not real. You’d be shocked at the proper words Nigerian English speakers use”.
Elnathan John wrote: “What Paul Graham did is dangerous and colonial. Many of us were flogged for using vernacular in school. We are treated with suspicion when we travel to the west, made to prove our knowledge many times over. Our knowledge is doubted and belittled.”
Here is what some users had to say:
Came to twitter to see Nigerians dragging Paul Graham and other white men over the use of "delve" and the use of english.
What a time to be alive 😂😂😂
Advertisement— Ejiro (@joggyjagz) April 9, 2024
Paul Graham an Co. have proven that no matter how smart and accomplished a person is, there is still space for stupidity, and willful, obstinate ignorance.
Imagine being stressed by a basic word like 'delve' and refusing to accept it's because of your limited vocabulary.
Advertisement— Ọkanga : Alụsị Gbalụ Abuba®™ (@TheBossMajor) April 9, 2024
The only thing this Paul Graham debacle has taught me is that people can be wildly successful in one area and ridiculously ignorant in another area at the same time.
Imagine thinking we use the word "delve" to sound fancy 😂😂😂
— DJ Klem (@Deejay_Klem) April 9, 2024
So glad everyone is calling Paul Graham out for that tweet. Judging a text as "written by AI" because it includes the word "delve" is an indication of some of the spin-off problems we'll face as technological advancements grow and people develop less trust in human ability.
— Demilade (@MsFayemiwo) April 9, 2024
And small small Delve is making Paul Graham lose his head😂😂 pic.twitter.com/nZiparl7xc
— Ms Icy❄️ (@Icy_sonie) April 9, 2024
Paul Graham’s tweets today highlight the implicit bias foreign students face a lot with white teachers and professors. They already think you’re cheating half the time just cos you’re smart, now you’ll say ‘delve’ and ‘unlock’ and they will say you’re using chatGPT to write.
— Ozzy (@ozzyetomi) April 8, 2024
That Paul Graham’s tweet was quite dangerous and i hope he takes the feedback and publicly adjusts his position.
“delve” is normal regular parlance in Nigeria and many places pic.twitter.com/UOewiLKaHR
— Moe (@Mochievous) April 8, 2024
Paul Graham's absurd claim that using words like "delve" indicate ChatGPT reveals his assumption that everyone shares his linguistic limitations. Like US and UK professors who punish Africans for using English their limited knowledge tells them such students can't possibly know. pic.twitter.com/ZxFEzEeMgi
— Uju Anya (@UjuAnya) April 9, 2024
Dear Nigerian English & literature teachers, professors & educators, you DESERVE your flowers. It is absolutely preposterous how the west in a fallacious manner, ridicule the day 2 day usage of languages outside their world. There is a need to eradicate this mendacious propaganda
— Destiny (@ODestinyk) April 9, 2024
Lol, there is no accolade for any Nigerian English teacher, abeg.
English, for most of us, was from a place of “do it yourself.”
A lot of Nigerians are self taught, especially the ones that have problems with pronunciations, which proves that they read even when they couldn’t
— Generational Wealth (@Onyeka7chukwu) April 9, 2024
Imagine assuming a paper is written by AI just for using certain English words. Most of us were taught to use these words in school.
The fact some words aren't common in American English doesn't mean it's the same everywhere.
Nigerians used most of these “AI-generated words”… https://t.co/hwIzyruhHY
— Nurse Cherish (@AdaErema) April 9, 2024
The shocking thing about the Delve Drama is, fear of Big Big English could be the reason so many Africans (and former colonies) have lost American opportunities, and people have been chalking it up to racism, not knowing American companies are run by people afraid of dictionaries
— Grannybelly 🌕 (@sugabelly) April 9, 2024
This is why we need to invest more in producing and publishing our own work. Imagine after being force-fed colonial languages, being forced to speak it better than its owners then being told that no one used basic words like 'delve' in real life.
Habibi, come to Nigeria. https://t.co/lH1EWwFP9C
— Elnathan John (@elnathan_john) April 9, 2024
The most exciting thing about Nigerian English is not even our love of big words. We invent and reinvent words. Like how do you explain ‘razz’, ‘normal level’, ‘one kind’, ‘format’, ‘jazz’ to a non-Nigerian?
— Wale Lawal (@WalleLawal) April 9, 2024
Lackadaisical
Gallivant
Perambulate
Nonchalant
ScallawagsThe average secondary school student in my time heard these words every week cause all of us “were the worst sets ever”. Every set
No single principal didn’t use these words 😂😂😂Delve?? Are they joking? Lmao
— Jemima (@JemimaOsunde) April 9, 2024
American English is extremely boring. One of the major reasons I recently find Suburban Hollywood movies distasteful.
A large vocabulary helps me to say exactly what I mean, so my my words can hardly be misconstrued while being interpreted.
— Promxzy 💙❤️ (@ceejayxy) April 9, 2024
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