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Grammarly Pulls ‘Expert Review’ as Lawsuit Alleges Misuse of Writers’ Identities

The case could shape how AI products handle real people’s names and likenesses without consent.

Overview

  • Superhuman/Grammarly disabled the Expert Review tool this week after it attributed AI-generated edits to real writers and academics without permission, including deceased figures.
  • Journalist Julia Angwin filed a class-action complaint in the Southern District of New York seeking damages and an injunction over alleged misappropriation of names and identities.
  • CEO Shishir Mehrotra apologized for misrepresenting experts’ voices and said the feature will be redesigned to give experts control, while stating the legal claims are without merit.
  • Writers and outlets criticized the company’s initial opt-out-by-email offer as inadequate and unworkable for people who were never informed or are no longer alive.
  • Affected authors reported inaccurate, off-voice feedback attributed to them; the feature launched in August as part of Grammarly’s AI agent suite for paying users.