Use cases for AI writing tools
The ads primarily target two audiences: students and professionals. Moreover, ideation appears as a third use case across both groups.
Ideation — without exploration
Several ads promise help with finding ideas at the start of a writing project. Examples include “Say goodbye to blank-page scaries and jump-start ideas faster”, “Start your best draft with this AI lineup”, and “Jump-Start Ideas With Grammarly’s AI Brainstorming Features”. The latter ad shows a brainstorming button that generates high-level essay content for a user-provided topic. I like that it offers possible directions without dictating details. However, the feature’s UI design limits exploration and iteration. It is crammed into a chatbox pop-up with no space and editing capabilities to compare or iterate on ideas.
As shown in the ad, users are expected to immediately copy an AI-provided idea. This workflow seems unlikely to appeal to people who enjoy exploring many ideas before committing one to the page.
Alternative design direction: How might we design for a closer integration of ideation and writing? Of canvas and page? What if the AI’s role were to facilitate transitions between these processes, or to provide a substrate for exploration and iteration, rather than simply generating text to copy?
Communication: Is AI polish all you need?
Another group of ads focuses on writing as communication, such as “Put your best foot forward”, “Send the right message”, “Get heads nodding on your first email instead of your fifth”, and “Communicate clearly, come across as you intend, and strengthen work relationships”. Fittingly, these ads feature people rather than interfaces, highlighting the promise that AI will help the user be perceived positively.
However, the opposite can also be true: When a message is perceived as AI-generated, it can decrease trust. It remains unclear how the design mitigates these risks. The existence of a “Humanizer Agent” in another ad supports this: Why design features that require the user to also “humanize” the text?
Alternative design direction: How might we design tools with a nuanced understanding of the social nature of writing in focus, rather than assuming that AI polish is all you need?
Learning: Grades over growth
Grammarly’s YouTube playlist for students focuses on performance markers. Its slogans include “Work faster and smarter”, “Make the grade”, “Submit high-quality work for school”, and “Craft your success story”. The last one features a time-travel plot in which a student learns that “everyone’s using it”, and joining in will turn him into a CEO later in life. As an educator, I find this focus troublesome because the ads never portray students motivated by genuine learning.
Identifying this as the best marketing strategy for a writing tool may reveal more about cultural views of education than about the tool itself. A behind-the-scenes video titled “How to succeed in school” makes this even clearer: It interviews actors from the ads, who give personal advice such as “don’t take it so seriously” and “people put too much emphasis on studying”.
In contrast, the ad “Edit Essays Faster” shows a degree of introspection through interaction with AI. A student reflects on edit suggestions: “That’s true. This is much better. You know, I didn’t know my writing contained so many run-on sentences until I started using Grammarly.”
While this moment hints at learning, what’s missing are features that help students turn such insights into lasting improvements.
Alternative design direction: How might we design (AI) writing tools that help users develop their writing skills, rather than replace them?