Subvolts take AI impersonation sparks a tense interview about consent and AI's use of personal identities. Mar 23, 2026 - Business
- Understand the ethical and legal risks of using AI to replicate personal identities and styles.
- Everyday users
- Learn how AI companies might use your likeness or data without explicit consent and the implications.
This episode features a direct interview with a CEO addressing significant ethical concerns about AI impersonation and data usage.
Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Nilay Patel interviews Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Superhuman (formerly Grammarly), about the company's AI Expert Review feature. This feature cloned the voices and writing styles of individuals, including reporters, without their explicit permission. The conversation addresses the ethical implications and disagreements surrounding AI's use of personal identities.
Imagine an AI that copies your writing style to give advice. This episode discusses a company that did this using famous writers' styles without asking. It raises questions about whether AI should use people's identities like that.
This episode offers a candid discussion on the ethical boundaries of AI impersonation and data usage. It's for anyone concerned about how AI companies leverage personal data and likeness without consent, particularly journalists, creators, and consumers interacting with AI tools. The interview highlights current tensions between AI development and individual rights, mirroring broader debates around AI safety and policy as frontier labs push generative capabilities.
- HostNilay Patel
- GuestShishir MehrotraCEO, Superhuman
- Guest: Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Superhuman (formerly Grammarly)
- Show: Decoder with Nilay Patel
- Length: 76 minutes
- Feature in question: Expert Review
- Issue: AI cloning identities without permission
Today, I’m talking with Shishir Mehrotra, the CEO of Superhuman, the company formerly known as Grammarly, which is still its flagship product. Back in August, Grammarly shipped a feature called Expert Review, which allowed you to get writing suggestions from AI-cloned “experts,” and recently, reporters at The Verge and other outlets discovered that those experts included me, among many others.
No one ever asked permission to use our names this way, and a lot of reporters were outraged by this. To Shishir’s credit, he did not cancel our interview and he came on and stuck it out. This conversation got tense at times, and it’s clear we disagree about how extractive AI feels for people. There’s a lot in this one, and I’m excited to hear what you think.
Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.
Links:
- Why I’m suing Grammarly | New York Times
- Grammarly will stop using identities without permission | The Verge
- Grammarly to keep using writer identities unless they opt out | The Verge
- Grammarly turned me into an AI editor and I hate it | Platformer
- Grammarly is using our identities without permission | The Verge
- Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman | The Verge
- Grammarly wants to become an ‘AI productivity platform’ | The Verge
- Viacom v. YouTube, 2007 | Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Xander Adams. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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- extractive AI
- Nilay Patel
- AI that takes and uses existing content or personal data
1 h 03
37 minInside the Model Spec - Episode 15
WithJason Wolfe
Questions people ask
- What is Superhuman's Expert Review feature?
- Superhuman's Expert Review feature used AI to generate writing suggestions by cloning the styles of "experts."
- Why were reporters outraged by Grammarly's feature?
- Reporters were outraged because the feature used their names and writing styles without their permission.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to The Verge.