Editing tool Grammarly has shut down its controversial “Expert Review” feature, which offered suggestions that mimic the writing style of real journalists, authors and academics.
The brand did not obtain the consent of the authors, including writers, including Neil deGrasse Tyson and Stephen King. The feature used details from several technical writers, as seen by The Verge, including the publication’s own staff and others. Bloomberg, Digital Foundry, IGN, Tom’s Guide, Rock Paper Shotgunand others.
Grammarly’s parent company faced a class-action lawsuit on Thursday from one of the authors cited as an expert in its tool. As reported by Wired, Julia Inguin, an investigative journalist and author, filed a lawsuit against Grammarly’s owner, Superman.
“Grammatically, consent was never sought from Ms. Angwin or the other ‘experts,’ nor was consent obtained from the ‘experts’ whose names and identities are grammatically misstated in the expert review tool. The lawsuit alleges that this practice violated New York and California laws requiring a person’s consent for a commercial purpose,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit seeks a court order barring Grammarly from using those people’s names and identities without consent. This may prevent Grammarly from reintroducing the Feature or similar tools in the future.
It also asks for compensation from Superhuman for the time the feature goes live, first starting in August 2025. “I’m taking this action not just on behalf of myself, but everyone who has spent years and decades honing their skills as a writer and editor, only to find an AI impersonating them,” Angwin wrote on LinkedIn.
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A spokesperson for Superhuman told Wired, “We built Agent to help users discover the insights of thought leaders and experts, and to provide new ways for experts to share their knowledge and reach new audiences. Based on the feedback we received, we were clearly marked. We regret it and will do things differently going forward.”
After coverage of the controversial feature gathered steam, Grammarly introduced an option for experts to opt out of future involvement. None of these experts were contacted directly about AI tools imitating their work, but could email to remove themselves if they discovered their involvement.
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