Assessing Grammarly's Artificial Intelligence for Educational Purposes: A Mixed Emotional Review
In the realm of AI-powered writing assistance, Grammarly has made a significant impact, offering a comprehensive solution for improving the quality and clarity of writing. The AI assistant excels in providing detailed feedback on grammar, clarity, tone, and style, making it an invaluable tool for writers seeking to enhance their engagement and delivery [3].
However, it's essential to note that Grammarly's AI-generated text detection capabilities are limited. The AI detector only detects AI-generated content with about 37–50% confidence on purely AI-written text, providing a probabilistic estimate rather than a definitive conclusion [1]. This suggests fundamental limitations in AI-content detection accuracy.
The potential for cheating with Grammarly's tools is low when used responsibly. While paraphrasing and rewriting features can improve clarity and tone, they do not artificially inflate AI detection scores on human-written texts, suggesting they aid genuine writing improvement rather than enabling AI-generated text to appear fully human [1]. Grammarly also includes plagiarism checking and citation finding, fostering originality and academic integrity in writing [4][5].
Recent concerns have been raised about the misuse of Grammarly's AI assistant. Reports suggest that at least two of the writer's summer course students are suspected of generating entire essays using the AI assistant [6]. The writer believes it's likely that Grammarly's AI assistant has been used to generate AI-submitted work in past classes without the instructor's knowledge [6].
To address these problematic features, measures could be implemented such as sending copies of generated examples to instructors or programming the AI assistant not to generate full essays [7]. Grammarly's new AI agents are designed to help students develop responsible use of AI, emphasizing AI literacy and maintaining academic integrity while supporting professional and academic writing skills [4].
Launched in Fall 2023, Grammarly's AI writing assistant offers a free web version that allows 100 prompts per month [8]. Despite its limitations, the assistant can identify missing elements in weaker student papers and provide suggestions for brainstorming and ideation [9]. However, it's important to note that the assistant sometimes provides incorrect information, such as assuring a correct spelling when it's not [10].
As the educational community continues to embrace generative AI, it is hoped that Grammarly will make improvements to eliminate its problematic features and live up to the educational promise of AI-powered writing assistance [11]. The assistant can provide encouraging and helpful feedback on student work, making it a valuable tool for educators and students alike. Yet, it's crucial to remember that the responsibility for maintaining academic integrity ultimately lies with the user.
References:
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2405456621000601 [2] https://www.grammarly.com/features [3] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-writing-assistant [4] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-assistant-for-students [5] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-assistant-for-professionals [6] https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/grammarly-ai-assistant-may-be-helping-students-cheat [7] https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/how-teachers-can-use-grammarly-responsibly [8] https://www.grammarly.com/pricing [9] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-assistant-for-ideation [10] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-assistant-limitations [11] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-assistant-educational-promise
A student might use Grammarly's AI writing assistant for learning and improving the clarity and tone of their writing, as part of their education-and-self-development. However, it's crucial for the student to understand that Grammarly's AI detection capabilities have limitations and might provide incorrect information at times. Instructors should be cautious about potential misuse of Grammarly's tool, as there have been reports of students generating entire essays using the AI assistant, which could lead to academic dishonesty.
