Grammarly is stealing the names of living scientists and science writers. It is using those names to sell “expert review” by generative AI, but without the input or even permission of the listed authors. And there isn’t an easy way to check if your name is being used this was. You more or less have to create a free account and poke around in it.
So far, Richard van Noorden has found in Grammarly’s system scientists and science writers like:
- Ivan Oransky
- Mary Roach
- Rebecca Skloot
- Ed Yong
- Melinda Wenner Moyer
- Deborah Blum
- Michael E. Mann
- Carl Zimmer
- Maryn McKenna
- Carl Bergstrom
- Elisabeth Bik
- Michael Eisen
- Anna Abalkina
To name a few that might be familiar.
Ingrid Burrington coined what might be the Word of the Year for 2026 for these: “sloppelganger.”
Grammarly has said that you can opt out of being listed as an “Expert reviewer” by emailing: expertoptout@superhuman.com.
If you have an online body of work of any size, I highly recommend you use that email.
Update: Well, that was short-lived. Surekha Davies is reporting that Grammarly is deactivating the “Expert review” feature tomorrow (12 March 2026).
But they aren’t saying “This was wrong and we should not do this,” no. It’s only gone “while we reimagine how to make it more useful for customers and more respectful of the experts whose work it surfaces.”
I suspect this might be corporate speak for, “We are totally putting this back as soon as the legal department tells us how we can avoid the lawsuits.”
External links
Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out
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