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ZDNET's key takeaways
Grammarly's new AI agents are designed to provide assistance without prompting.
They're geared toward students and professional development.
Grammarly says agents will become a major focus for the company.
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Professional writers have long relied on literary agents to help with the publication and sale of their work. Now, students and professionals can use a new kind of agent to sharpen their writing skills -- and it will automatically kick into gear, no prompts needed.
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Grammarly users can access eight new AI agents. Each of which is designed to help them with different stages of the writing and editing processes, the company said Monday. The agents are being marketed to students at a time when AI is rapidly reshaping both educational norms and the job market. They're also being pushed to working professionals as AI tools become an increasingly common fixture in the workplace.
What Grammarly's agents do
Unlike traditional chatbots, which require careful prompting, Grammarly said its fleet of new agents can automatically take action based on the context in which they've been activated, "eliminating the guesswork of crafting the right prompts," Grammarly wrote in a press release. "Users remain in control of their work while receiving intelligent support tailored to their goals."
The Citation Finder agent, for example, can be activated to scour the web for evidence to corroborate or refute a particular claim presented in a piece of writing and generate properly formatted citations. The Plagiarism Checker agent, meanwhile, compares users' work against a variety of databases to find similarities and verify whether the work is original.
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Grammarly has also launched an AI Detector agent, which "scans text to provide a score of whether the text was likely AI- or human-generated to support users in delivering their most authentic work." In other words, the purpose of this agent seems to be to help users who are using AI to write for them mask the fact that they're using AI to write for them.
The task of trying to determine whether text is AI-generated is an imperfect science at best. From the supposed em dash dead giveaway to suspicions that loved ones are using ChatGPT to write heartfelt texts, it's a hotly debated topic, though ZDNET's internal testing shows AI content detectors overall are improving. In June, Grammarly launched a feature called Track Your Work, which records your writing activity in new Google and Word documents as proof that you wrote it.
The other agents include a Reader Reactions agent, an AI Grader agent, an Expert Review agent, a Proofreader agent, and a Paraphraser agent. They're accessible now via Grammarly's free and Pro tiers, and will be rolled out later this year (along with more agents) in Grammarly Enterprise and Grammarly for Education. They can be found in Docs, Grammarly's new, AI-powered writing platform.
Less automating, more guidance
Grammarly is positioning its fleet of agents as a team of expert AI collaborators that balance automation with education, handling rote busywork while simultaneously providing tips that can help human users become more capable and confident writers.
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It's a delicate line to tow, especially in the case of students. Many educators today worry that the rise of easily accessible generative AI tools is dulling critical thinking skills among students, making it dangerously easy for them to entirely offload the work required by some assignments (essays, for example) onto these systems. The AI industry at large seems aware of that question, especially as the new school year begins; ChatGPT just released Study Mode, which aims to teach more than it automates, as does Anthropic's Learning Mode for its Claude chatbot and Claude Code platform.
Grammarly said its new agents are designed to provide a responsible degree of assistance while also familiarizing students with some of the basics of AI, which can benefit them when they enter the job market.
"Students today need AI that enhances their capabilities without undermining their learning," Jenny Maxwell, head of Grammarly for Education, said in a statement. "Grammarly's new agents fill this gap, acting as real partners that guide students to produce better work while ensuring they develop real skills that will serve them throughout their careers."
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Similarly, the agents are intended to empower working professionals without encroaching too far on their unique voice and agency.
For example, the press release mentions the hypothetical example of a marketing director using the Reader Reactions agent to get a sense of how a draft of a product launch announcement will resonate with the company's sales team and with its CEO. "The agent predicts specific concerns each audience might have, suggests which points to emphasize for maximum impact, and flags potential misunderstandings before they happen," Grammarly wrote.
Grammarly's shift toward agents
Founded in 2009, Grammarly has long leveraged AI to offer writing and editing tips within its platform. But with Monday's launch, Grammarly is kicking off an effort to reposition itself as a platform centered around AI agents, which have become a focal point for developers looking to profit from generative AI. It's also become a key area of investment for leaders looking to boost productivity -- and signal to customers that they're on top of the latest and hottest tech trends.
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"The launch of our new agents and AI writing surface marks a turning point in how we build products that anticipate user needs," Luke Behnke, Grammarly's VP of product management, said in a statement. "We're moving beyond simple suggestions to intelligent agents that understand context and actively help users achieve their communication goals."
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