Is Grammarly Considered AI? My Professor Says Using It Is Cheating

Content Authenticity Standards
1

My professor flagged a submission last week with a comment that using Grammarly was “AI-assisted writing” that violated academic integrity policy. I need to understand if this is a new institutional position or if she’s misapplying the policy.

My reading of the actual policy: AI content generation tools are restricted. Grammarly’s core function is grammar and spell checking - the same as any word processor’s built-in tools.

The counter-argument I’ve heard: Grammarly’s newer features (tone suggestions, full sentence rewrites) do cross into content generation territory. If you’re using those features on an essay, that’s a different conversation.

My position: using Grammarly to fix punctuation and catch typos is no different from using spellcheck. Nobody argues spellcheck is academic dishonesty.

Has anyone had an official ruling on this from their institution? Is this a one-professor interpretation or a broader policy shift?

Genuine question - not trying to get away with anything, just want to understand what the actual standard is.

2

This is genuinely a policy grey area and your professor may be applying a blanket “no AI tools” rule without distinguishing between types. The rewriting features are the issue, not basic grammar correction.

3

Most institutional policies haven’t caught up with the tool distinction yet. Grammar checking vs content generation is a meaningful difference but the policies were written broadly. Worth escalating to department head for a clear answer.

4

@bright.puddle.15 document everything and get the policy clarification in writing. Vague policies applied inconsistently is how grade appeals happen. You’re right to push for specificity.

5

The irony is Microsoft Word’s editor does similar things now and nobody flags that. The tool name recognition is driving the reaction more than the actual function.