Home Article Category Current events

Grammarly

Grammarly
Grammarly (Ukraine).svg
Original author(s)Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider[1][2]
Developer(s)Grammarly Inc.
Initial releaseJuly 1, 2009; 13 years ago (2009-07-01)[3]
Operating systemWindows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, World Wide Web
Available inEnglish (customizable using keyboard settings)
TypeOnline text or, browser extension, and mobile app with grammar checker, spell checker, and plagiarism detector
LicenseProprietary software
Websitewww.grammarly.com

Grammarly is a cloud-based[4] typing assistant[5][6] that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes.[7] It uses artificial intelligence to identify and search for an appropriate replacement for the error it locates. It also allows users to customize their style, tone, and context-specific language.[8] It was launched in 2009 by Ukrainians Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider.[9] In 2018, Grammarly launched the beta version of its browser extension, which is optimized for Google Docs.[9][10] As of 2022, it is available as a downloaded program for use with desktop applications, as a browser extension, and as a smartphone keyboard.

The software is produced by Grammarly Inc, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California,[11] with offices in Kyiv,[12] New York City, and Vancouver.[13][14]

History[]

Origins[]

Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, and Dmytro Lider[9] founded Grammarly two years after designing a program called My Dropbox, which was a program that checked essays for plagiarism.[15][16] Initially, Grammarly was to be a program for universities to teach their students English; however, sales were considered slow because universities could buy it for years at a time, so they decided to sell the product directly to the end user.[15] They started the project in the Western world because, according to Alex Shevchenko, "...unlike Ukrainian universities, Western educational institutions are very open to new technologies."[15][16] At the same time, Lytvyn and Shevchenko decided to target customers who use English in everyday life, rather than English learners.[15]

Later[]

In 2022, Ukrainian-founded Grammarly said it would donate all the profits it had made since 2014 in Russia and Belarus to Ukraine because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[17][18]

Security[]

In early 2018, a researcher at Google discovered a "high severity" vulnerability in the extension that Grammarly Inc had developed for a couple of major web browsers.[19] The issue report said that "any website can login to grammarly.com as you and access all your documents and other data."[19] A few hours after being notified of the vulnerability, Grammarly released an update to fix the issue, which the Google researcher described as "a really impressive response time." Despite the severity of the bug, Grammarly maintains that they found no evidence of any user data being compromised.[20]

Reception[]

Grammarly has been criticized for incorrect suggestions, ignorance of tone and context, and reduction of writers' freedom of expression.[21][22]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Krasnikov, Denys (July 6, 2018). "Grammarly opens new Kyiv office as demand rises for help with English". Kyiv Post. Businessgroup LLC. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  2. ^ Wiggers, Kyle (September 12, 2018). "Grammarly brings its AI-powered proofreading tools to Google Docs". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  3. ^ "Grammarly.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  4. ^ Doyle, Alison (October 3, 2020). "What Is Grammarly?". The Balance Careers. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "Grammarly Inc". Bloomberg. n.d. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "Grammarly". Forbes. n.d. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Moore, Ben (July 16, 2020). "Grammarly Review". PCMag. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (July 16, 2019). "Grammarly goes beyond grammar". Techcrunch. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "Grammarly brings its AI-powered proofreading tools to Google Docs". VentureBeat. September 12, 2018. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Coberly, Cohen (September 12, 2018). "You can finally use Grammarly within Google Docs". TechSpot. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  11. ^ "Grammarly · 548 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104". Grammarly · 548 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  12. ^ "Grammarly opens new Kyiv office as demand rises for help with English | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. July 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  13. ^ McCracken, Harry (April 1, 2019). "On its 10th anniversary, Grammarly looks way beyond grammar". Fast Company. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  14. ^ "AI-powered writing assistant Grammarly opens new office in downtown Vancouver | Venture". dailyhive.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d "Как двое киевлян создали сервис проверки английского правописания стоимостью $100 млн". Escadra Recruitment Agency (in Russian). Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Rahman, Tameem (June 5, 2020). "How Grammarly Grew to 7 Million Daily Users". Medium. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  17. ^ MacLellan, Lila. "Ukrainian-founded Grammarly is donating all the money it made in Russia since 2014". Quartz. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  18. ^ Renbarger, Madeline. "'We feel frustrated': Startup CEOs with teams in Ukraine struggle to help their employees in any way they can". Business Insider. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Ormandy, Tavis (February 2, 2018). "Issue 1527: Grammarly: auth tokens are accessible to all websites". project-zero. Google. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  20. ^ Couts, Andrew (February 5, 2018). "Grammarly Bug Let Snoops Read What You Wrote, Typos and All (Updated)". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  21. ^ Mayne, Dorothy (January 26, 2021). "Revisiting Grammarly: An Imperfect Tool for Final Editing". another word. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  22. ^ Brogan, Jacob (February 7, 2018). "Grammarly Fixed a Security Vulnerability, but It Still Can't Fix Our Writing". Slate Magazine.