Grammarly AI Expert Review Disabled: Ethical Tech Gift Guide
Grammarly disabled its AI Expert Review feature over ethical concerns. Learn why this matters and discover 4 ethical AI writing tools to gift instead.
By Team Gimmie
Updated August 27, 2026
THE DIGITAL GHOST IN THE MACHINE: WHY GRAMMARLYS AI STUMBLE MATTERS FOR YOUR NEXT TECH GIFT
When I first heard about Grammarly’s Expert Review AI feature, it felt less like a helpful writing assistant and more like a digital ghostwriter lurking in the shadows. The idea of an AI channeling the writing styles of actual, living experts sounds impressive on paper, but in practice, it raises some massive ethical red flags. It turns out I wasn’t the only one feeling a bit uneasy.
The situation came to a head when Superhuman, a popular email client, blew the whistle. They discovered that Grammarly’s AI was generating edit suggestions inspired by real writers—including Superhuman’s own editor-in-chief and other staff members—without their knowledge or permission. This wasn’t a minor technical bug; it was a fundamental misstep in how we integrate AI into the tools we use every day.
In response, Grammarly has disabled the feature and issued a candid apology, admitting they clearly missed the mark. While the retraction is a step in the right direction, it serves as a stark reminder of the tightrope we are walking with AI development. For those of us looking to gift tech to the students, writers, or professionals in our lives, this incident provides a crucial lesson in how to choose tools that empower rather than exploit.
THE AI TIGHTROPE: INNOVATION VERSUS ETHICS
Grammarly’s intention was likely to offer users more nuanced, expert-level feedback than a standard spellchecker. Imagine receiving a suggestion that sounds exactly like something a seasoned editor would write. On the surface, that is incredibly appealing. It is the kind of feature that could help a student learn the rhythms of academic prose or assist a business professional in sounding more authoritative.
But here is the rub: Whose style is it, really? When an AI learns from a specific person’s work, it is absorbing their unique voice, their hard-earned expertise, and their creative essence. Replicating that without consent, even when framed as inspiration, feels like a violation. It is one thing for an AI to learn general grammar principles; it is quite another to mimic the specific soul of an individual’s writing.
