EXCLUSIVE: Grammarly CEO: This Is Why ChatGPT Won't Kill My Business

Forbes Talks
20 May 202324:42

TLDRIn an interview, Grammarly's new CEO, Rahul Roy Chowdhury, discusses the company's commitment to improving communication through AI. He emphasizes that despite the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly's mission remains focused on assisting users in all phases of communication. Chowdhury highlights Grammarly's use of AI to enhance written communication effectiveness, rather than replacing human input. He also addresses the ethical use of AI, the company's response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and future opportunities for Grammarly in the enterprise sector.

Takeaways

  • 😀 Rahul Roy Chowdhury is the new CEO of Grammarly and emphasizes his humanity amidst AI advancements.
  • 📈 Grammarly's mission is to improve lives by enhancing communication, starting with basic grammar and spelling and expanding to tone and clarity.
  • 🔄 Chowdhury believes in Grammarly's ability to help people communicate more effectively and show up in the way they intend to.
  • 🚀 With generative AI, Grammarly aims to assist in the entire communication lifecycle, from conception to comprehension.
  • 🤖 The Grammarly Go product integrates GPT 3.5 on Azure, enhancing existing ML pipelines to improve communication effectiveness.
  • 🌟 Grammarly focuses on user problems first, using technology to solve them uniquely, rather than chasing technological trends.
  • 🔒 Chowdhury stresses the importance of ethical AI use, with Grammarly employing a TRUe framework for trust, responsibility, user control, and empathy.
  • 🏢 The CEO role is not about personal ambition for Chowdhury, but a dedication to Grammarly's success and mission.
  • 🌐 Grammarly's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict involves suspending services in Russia and Belarus to support their employees and demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine.
  • 💼 Chowdhury sees a significant opportunity for Grammarly to assist businesses in navigating the changing world of AI and improving workplace communication.

Q & A

  • Who is the CEO of Grammarly?

    -Rahul Roy Chowdhury is the CEO of Grammarly.

  • What was Rahul Roy Chowdhury's previous role at Grammarly?

    -Rahul Roy Chowdhury was the former head of product at Grammarly.

  • What is Grammarly's mission?

    -Grammarly's mission is to improve lives by improving communication.

  • What attracted Rahul to the role of CEO at Grammarly?

    -Rahul was attracted to the role of CEO because he deeply cares about Grammarly and its mission, and he saw an opportunity to help the company scale its product to reach more people.

  • How does Grammarly plan to use generative AI?

    -Grammarly plans to use generative AI to help with the entire life cycle of communication, from conception to comprehension, and to assist users in communicating more effectively.

  • What is the relationship between Grammarly and OpenAI?

    -Grammarly uses the GPT 3.5 model, which is running on Azure, as part of its AI pipelines to enhance its product, Grammarly Go.

  • How does Rahul Roy Chowdhury view the competition with other AI tools?

    -Rahul Roy Chowdhury views competition as an opportunity to innovate and improve services for users, focusing on solving user problems rather than being distracted by what others are doing.

  • What is the TRUE framework mentioned by Rahul?

    -The TRUE framework is a set of principles Grammarly uses for deploying AI products responsibly, focusing on Trust, Responsibility, User Control, and Empathy.

  • Why did Grammarly suspend services in Russia and Belarus?

    -Grammarly suspended services in Russia and Belarus as a signal of support for its employees who were in harm's way due to actions in those countries.

  • What is Grammarly's stance on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia?

    -Grammarly has deep roots in Ukraine and is supportive of the Ukrainian people, ensuring support for its employees and demonstrating alignment with Ukraine's situation.

  • What are Rahul Roy Chowdhury's thoughts on the future of Grammarly?

    -Rahul Roy Chowdhury is optimistic about the future and sees a big opportunity for Grammarly to help businesses navigate the changing world of AI and improve communication.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction and AI's Role at Grammarly

Diane Brady interviews Rahul Roy Chowdhury, the new CEO of Grammarly, discussing his transition into the role and the company's AI advancements. The conversation begins with a humorous headline suggesting Grammarly's AI replaced its CEO, to which Chowdhury confirms his humanity. They delve into Grammarly's mission to improve communication, starting with basic grammar and spelling assistance and evolving to include tone and clarity. Chowdhury shares his optimism about the potential for scaling Grammarly's product to enhance communication across various platforms.

05:03

🤖 The Integration of Generative AI in Grammarly's Product

The discussion shifts to Grammarly's utilization of generative AI, with Diane inquiring if Grammarly is transitioning from an assistive to a preparatory tool. Chowdhury explains the evolution of Grammarly beyond mere correction to encompass the entire communication lifecycle, including conception, composition, revision, and comprehension. He highlights the company's approach to integrating new technologies like GPT 3.5 with Azure to augment their existing ML pipelines, emphasizing the expansion of Grammarly's benefits to users.

10:05

🛠️ Balancing Innovation and User-Centric Focus

Rahul Roy Chowdhury addresses the competitive landscape of AI, emphasizing Grammarly's commitment to solving unique user problems rather than merely chasing technological trends. He discusses the company's strategy of layering new technologies like generative AI on top of existing solutions to enhance user experience. Chowdhury also stresses the importance of ethical AI deployment, mentioning Grammarly's TRUE framework for trust, responsibility, user control, and empathy in AI application.

15:06

🌐 Global Impact and AI's Influence on Jobs

The conversation explores the global impact of AI, particularly on employment, with reference to BT's announcement of job cuts due to AI integration. Chowdhury counters this narrative by emphasizing Grammarly's focus on improving the quality of written communication rather than increasing its quantity. He argues for the use of AI to augment human capabilities, not replace them, and discusses the importance of responsible leadership in deploying AI technologies.

20:10

🏆 Grammarly's Commitment to Ukraine and Future Outlook

Chowdhury discusses Grammarly's roots in Ukraine and the company's decision to suspend services in Russia and Belarus in support of its employees and the Ukrainian people. He reflects on his journey to becoming CEO and the unique challenges and opportunities Grammarly faces in the current economic and technological climate. Chowdhury expresses optimism about Grammarly's potential to help businesses improve communication in the era of AI, highlighting this as a key area of focus for the company.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Grammarly

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant tool that helps users improve their writing by correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, and suggesting style improvements. In the context of the video, Grammarly's CEO discusses the company's mission to improve lives by improving communication, and how their tool has evolved beyond basic grammar checks to assist with tone, clarity, and the entire communication lifecycle.

💡AI tool

An AI tool refers to software or a service that uses artificial intelligence to perform tasks. In the transcript, the AI tool mentioned is Grammarly's new feature that uses AI to assist with the writing process. The CEO explains that this tool is designed to help with the entire lifecycle of communication, from conception to revision and comprehension.

💡CEO

CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer, the highest-ranking executive in a company responsible for making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations. In the video, Rahul Roy Chowdhury, the new CEO of Grammarly, talks about his vision for the company and its use of AI.

💡Generative AI

Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text, music, or images. In the transcript, generative AI is highlighted as an exciting new technology that Grammarly is incorporating into their product to assist users in the creation phase of communication, not just the revision phase.

💡Communication lifecycle

The communication lifecycle refers to the stages a message goes through from conception to the recipient's comprehension. The CEO of Grammarly describes these stages as conception, composition, revision, and comprehension. The new Grammarly tool aims to assist users throughout this entire process.

💡Tone

In the context of writing, tone refers to the author's attitude towards their subject matter and readers. The CEO mentions that Grammarly has been working on helping users not just with grammatical correctness but also with tone, ensuring that their writing conveys the intended emotion and attitude.

💡Clarity

Clarity in writing means expressing ideas in a way that is easy to understand. The CEO discusses how Grammarly aims to help users improve the clarity of their communication, which is part of their broader mission to improve lives by improving communication.

💡ML and AI pipelines

ML stands for Machine Learning, a subset of AI that enables computers to learn from data without being explicitly programmed. AI pipelines refer to the series of steps or processes involved in creating and deploying AI models. The CEO explains that Grammarly has built several of these pipelines in-house and also incorporates third-party models like GPT to enhance their product.

💡Disruption

Disruption in a business context refers to innovations that disrupt existing industries. The CEO discusses the potential for generative AI to disrupt the way people communicate and how Grammarly aims to stay ahead by focusing on user problems and not just the novelty of the technology.

💡Ethical use of AI

Ethical use of AI pertains to the responsible deployment of AI technologies that avoid bias, ensure privacy, and maintain user control. The CEO outlines Grammarly's approach using the TRUE framework, emphasizing trust, responsibility, user control, and empathy in their AI applications.

💡Enterprise customers

Enterprise customers are businesses that use a company's product or service. The CEO mentions that Grammarly has been used in the workplace for many years and that they are increasingly focusing on providing value to businesses, navigating the changing world of AI, and improving communication at the enterprise level.

Highlights

Grammarly CEO Rahul Roy Chowdhury discusses the future of AI in communication tools.

Rahul Roy Chowdhury emphasizes the human aspect of his role as CEO amidst AI advancements.

Grammarly's mission to improve lives by enhancing communication.

The evolution of Grammarly from a grammar-checking tool to an AI-assisted communication platform.

The introduction of Grammarly Go, integrating generative AI to assist in the communication lifecycle.

Rahul's background in AI and how it shapes Grammarly's approach to AI integration.

The importance of focusing on user problems rather than being distracted by technological novelty.

Grammarly's use of both in-house AI pipelines and the GPT 3.5 model running on Azure.

The potential of generative AI to revolutionize how we approach written communication.

Rahul's perspective on competition in the AI space and staying user-focused.

The TRUE framework for ethical AI deployment: Trust, Responsibility, User Control, and Empathy.

Rahul's view on the risk of feeding data into AI tools that could be used to compete with the data providers.

The impact of generative AI on jobs and the workforce.

Grammarly's decision to suspend services in Russia and Belarus in support of Ukraine.

Rahul's thoughts on the economic climate and its effect on Grammarly's growth opportunities.

The potential for Grammarly to assist businesses in navigating the changing world of AI.