Grammarly has disabled a controversial AI feature that imitated the style of prominent writers and academics, and is facing a multimillion dollar lawsuit from those whose identities were used without consent.<\/p>\n
The feature, called Expert Review, used generative AI to produce feedback supposedly inspired by writers including the novelist Stephen King, the astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the late scientist Carl Sagan.<\/p>\n
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in the southern district of New York against Superhuman, Grammarly\u2019s parent company. The lawsuit argues that using a person\u2019s name for commercial gain without permission is unlawful, and argues that damages due across the plaintiff class are in excess of $5m (\u00a33.7m).<\/p>\n
Since Grammarly\u2019s feature has come to public attention, a number of writers have spoken out about being included.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Grammarly] curated a list of real people, gave its models free rein to hallucinate plausible-sounding advice on their behalf, and put it all behind a subscription,\u201d wrote tech journalist Casey Newton, who was among those featured in the software.<\/a> \u201cThat\u2019s a deliberate choice to monetise the identities of real people without involving them, and it sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n Vanessa Heggie, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham, posted on LinkedIn <\/a>about how fellow academic David Abulafia, who died in January, was included too, describing it as \u201cobscene\u201d.<\/p>\n Investigative journalist Julia Angwin, who appeared in the software, is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. \u201cI had thought of deepfakes as something that happens to celebrities, mostly around images,\u201d Angwin told the BBC.<\/a> \u201cEditing is a skill \u2026 it\u2019s my livelihood, but it\u2019s not something I\u2019ve ever thought about anyone trying to steal from me before. I didn\u2019t even think it was steal-able.\u201d<\/p>\n Angwin\u2019s lawyer, Peter Romer-Friedman, told the BBC the case had already generated interest from writers. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard from over 40 people in the last 24 hours since we filed the suit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Grammarly was launched in 2009 as a spelling and grammar check tool, but began adding a range of generative AI features last year, including Expert Review. \u201cExpert Review agent offers subject-matter expertise and personalised, topic-specific feedback to elevate writing that meets rigorous academic or professional standards tailored to the user\u2019s field,\u201d Grammarly wrote in a blog post announcing the feature.<\/a><\/p>\n