No one expected spell-check technology to create a spelling and literacy crisis. But the reality is that using spell-check, autocorrect, ChatGPT, and other tech tools may diminish a child’s literacy development by replacing human thinking.

Rather than using the visual word form area in the reading brain, where images of correct spellings are stored in long-term memory for automatic proficient reading and composing, kids use technology tools, eliminating human thinking and making the machine do the work. These tools can circumvent cognitive processes, hindering elementary students from developing a large bank of correctly spelled words essential for automatic reading and literacy.

A deep connection between spelling and reading is well established in current reading research in a process called orthographic mapping, which enables the reading and writing brain to store words in long-term memory to automatically and effortlessly retrieve correctly spelled words for encoding, recognize learned words for decoding, link sound-to-letter correspondences, and connect to meaning (Snow et al. 2005).

A large store of words in the brain nourishes the reading brain and makes proficient reading and writing possible (Gentry & Ouellette, 2025, Moats, 2005). Reliance on spell-check, autocorrect, and other AI tools can undermine literacy by replacing the essential recognition and retrieval of spelling knowledge needed for reading and writing with machine thinking. These technologies bypass the brain's ability to grow, store, and retrieve visual images of correct spellings, which are crucial for developing strong reading and writing skills in elementary students.

There are appropriate ways to guide student composers in how to use and not overuse

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