Grammarly sued over its 'Expert Review' AI feature
What's the story
Grammarly is facing a class-action lawsuit after it was revealed that the company had been using real people's identities for its "Expert Review" AI suggestions, without their consent. The lawsuit was filed by journalist Julia Angwin, who discovered that her identity had been used in this way. The complaint alleges that Superhuman violated privacy and publicity rights by using someone's identity for commercial purposes without their permission.
Discovery details
Discovery of identity usage
Angwin learned about her identity being used through Casey Newton, another expert identified by The Verge while testing the feature. Several current staff members of The Verge were also found associated with Grammarly's AI-generated suggestions. This raises more questions about the company's practices and its respect for individual privacy rights in its AI features.
Feature suspension
Controversial feature to be disabled
In light of the backlash, Superhuman has announced that it is disabling the controversial feature. Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Superhuman (Grammarly's parent company), said they are rethinking their approach to make it more useful for users while giving experts real control over how they want to be represented. He apologized for falling short on this issue and acknowledged the need to rethink their strategy going forward.
Feature backlash
Widespread criticism of 'Expert Review' feature
The "Expert Review" feature, which was available only with a $12-a-month Pro subscription after a free trial, drew widespread criticism. Tech journalist Kara Swisher slammed the tool for impersonating writers without their permission. Despite the backlash, Grammarly had previously defended the feature as a way to provide users with suggestions inspired by leading professionals and subject-matter experts.
Feature discrepancies
Inaccuracies and misrepresentation in suggestions
The "Expert Review" feature has been criticized for its inaccuracies. Even when author Benjamin Dreyer copy-pasted paragraphs of lorem ipsum, the tool suggested tips from writers like Stephen King. A disclaimer in the company's documentation states that references from these experts are only for informational purposes and do not imply any affiliation with Grammarly or endorsement by those individuals or entities.