Grammarly’s ‘Expert Review’ Accused of Using Real Experts’ Names Without Consent

Overview

• The Verge found the tool labeling AI feedback with the names of its own editors, including Nilay Patel, David Pierce, Sean Hollister, and Tom Warren, none of whom authorized their inclusion.
• The feature surfaces guidance tied to high‑profile figures, listing living experts like Stephen King and Neil deGrasse Tyson as well as deceased scholars such as Carl Sagan.
• Reporter testing documented frequent crashes and source attributions that linked to spam, archived copies, or unrelated pages, calling the feature’s provenance into question.
• In Google Docs, the suggestions appear like real user comments, a presentation that could lead users to think edits come from the named expert.
• Academics and journalists criticized the practice of using identities without consent—including for the deceased—with one professor calling it “obscene,” and Patel publicly objecting to being listed.