Home / Technology / Grammarly AI Faces Lawsuit Over Stolen Identities
Grammarly AI Faces Lawsuit Over Stolen Identities
12 Mar
Summary
- Grammarly's AI Expert Review used writers' identities without consent.
- A class action lawsuit accuses Grammarly of profiting from authors' names.
- The feature has been disabled and will be reimagined after backlash.
Grammarly has disabled its AI Expert Review feature after facing severe criticism and a class action lawsuit for allegedly using journalists' and authors' identities without consent. Launched last August, the feature provided AI-generated feedback by impersonating real writers, including deceased figures like Carl Sagan and bell hooks.
Critics, including authors whose names were used, condemned the feature as exploitative, accusing Grammarly of monetizing their identities. Historian Mar Hicks called it theft, while Platformer founder Casey Newton described it as a deliberate choice to profit from individuals without their involvement.
Grammarly initially offered an opt-out mechanism, but this was criticized for not notifying impacted writers and failing to address the use of deceased individuals' identities. In response, Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra announced the feature's temporary shutdown, apologizing for misrepresenting expert voices and promising to reimagine the tool.
Despite the apology and temporary disabling, a class action lawsuit has been filed in New York District Court. The suit, brought by New York Times writer Julia Angwin, seeks damages and an injunction against Grammarly for commercial use of identities without consent. The company intends to eventually relaunch the feature in a revised form.
