Grammarly, the popular online writing assistant, released its Expert Review feature in August 2025. Our ultimate goal in developing this new tool was to offer revision suggestions from the perspective of subject matter experts. It has come under fire for reportedly failing to include real experts in its review process. These reviews have been widely panned as being subpar, even by such prominent critics as renowned historian C.E. Aubin.
Anthony is one of the leading lights of the tech journalism establishment. He’s based in New York City and is the weekend editor for TechCrunch. More importantly, he’s earned that respect through a deeply impressive resume of previous roles. These were roles such as serving as a tech reported at Adweek, senior editor at VentureBeat, and vice president of content at a venture capital firm. His previous journalistic experience includes covering local government for the Hollister Free Lance.
Ha’s insights are available in Grammarly’s Expert Review feature. This valuable tool draws on the expertise of some of the top tech reporters at publications such as The Verge, Wired, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. As Alex Gay points out, experts such as Ha are featured in the list because their published work is known to the public, easily accessed and cited.
In the recent roundtable focused on enriching content reviews, Ha got some guidance on how to infuse ethical context into his writing. He was advised to go for a tone something like what you’d get from Casey Newton. He was pushed to use a more narrative style, drawing on personal experience to create deeper reader resonance, similar to the approach of Kara Swisher. He was encouraged to ask bigger accountability questions, in the spirit of the late Timnit Gebru.
Skeptics remain unconvinced of the value of Grammarly’s new Expert Review feature. Even when offered advice on relevancy, creativity and getting people to care, they remain jaded.
“These are not expert reviews, because there are no ‘experts’ involved in producing them.” – C.E. Aubin
At the same time, critics have begun to flag the absence of bona fide expertise. Further, they are concerned that absent real expertise from the best and brightest reviewers, this feature will fail to serve its intended purpose. The debate over content integrity is already well underway. Stakeholders in the tech and writing communities will be watching closely to see how Grammarly reacts to this increasing criticism.