Grammarly announced it would discontinue its 'expert review' feature in response to criticism that it was 'using the names of real experts without permission.'
Back in August, we launched a Grammarly agent called Expert Review. The agent draws on publicly available information from third-party LLMs to surface writing suggestions inspired by the published… | Shishir Mehrotra | 108 comments
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shishirmehrotra_back-in-august-we-launched-a-grammarly-agent-activity-7437552603737059328-vzTe/
Grammarly is turning off the expert review AI feature that stole our identities | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/893270/grammarly-ai-expert-review-disabled
Grammarly removes AI feature which used real authors' identities, faces class action lawsuit | Mashable
https://mashable.com/article/grammarly-expert-review-ai-use-authors-name-identity
In August 2025, Grammarly announced eight AI agents to assist with writing. One of them was the 'Expert Review Agent,' which would scan the entire text to understand the subject and writing style, and then provide feedback that mimicked the opinions of experts related to the topic of the text. For example, it would proofread academic papers in the style of famous scholars or edit stories in the style of famous authors. However, it drew criticism not only for the inaccuracies of the feedback, but also because, although the 'experts' displayed as providing feedback were real people, Grammarly was not affiliated with these experts and was using their names without their permission.
Grammarly's 'Expert Review' feature, which edits texts to sound like those of famous people, has been criticized for blatantly using the names of real people without permission - GIGAZINE
Some authors and writers contacted Superhuman , the company that operates Grammarly, and Alex Gay, Vice President of Product and Corporate Marketing at Superhuman, responded: 'We believe there is room for improvement in the product experience for both users and experts. This agent is designed to help users discover influential perspectives and insights that add value to their research. We want to give those who carry these perspectives more control over how their names are used, while also providing a new way to deliver influential opinions. Our goal is to improve expert reviews and achieve this.' Gay also announced that experts who do not want their names used without their consent in expert reviews can contact Superhuman to opt out .
However, many people were unaware that their names were being used without their permission on Grammarly until this incident became a topic of discussion, and the stance that 'if you notice your name is being used without your permission, you can contact them and opt out' has drawn much criticism once again. Furthermore, Julia Angwin, a reporter for The New York Times, filed a class-action lawsuit against Superhuman on March 11, 2026, because her name was used in Grammarly's expert reviews. According to Angwin, she was not only surprised that her name had been stolen without her permission, but was also angered by the rather poor quality of the feedback that used her name. The law firm handling the lawsuit is calling on all affected reporters to join the class-action lawsuit.
In response to these developments, Superhuman CEO Cecil Melotla posted on LinkedIn on March 12, 2026, 'Over the past week, we have received insightful and critical feedback from experts concerned that our agents may be misrepresenting their opinions. Our expert review agents were designed to help users discover influential perspectives and academic research relevant to their work, and to provide experts with a meaningful way to build deeper relationships with their fans. We have listened to your feedback and recognize that we fell short in this regard. We apologize and will review our approach going forward.' She then announced the discontinuation of expert reviews, stating, 'After careful consideration, we have decided to disable expert reviews and redesign them to be a more user-friendly feature, while also giving experts true control over how they express themselves, or choose not to express themselves.'
Furthermore, Melotra CEO stated, 'Grammarly is a reliable writing partner for millions of users, always available in every application and providing support. This presents professionals with an opportunity to build a universal connection with users. However, in this world, professionals choose to take part, shape how they express their knowledge, and control their business models. I am excited about such a future and want to build it together with professionals who want to develop it with us,' indicating his intention to redesign professional reviews.
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