Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has modified its chatbot Grok after calls from election officials in five US states to ensure the information it provides is accurate.
The move comes after Grok falsely claimed that the deadline for voting had passed in nine states, meaning the candidate choices were set for the November 2024 US presidential election. This is particularly alarming considering that this followed the announcement confirming that President Joe Biden was pausing his presidential bid, with Kamala Harris receiving the Democratic nomination.
Grok has now been modified to direct users to the nonpartisan election information site Vote.gov in response to any related queries, which protesting officials say is a “trusted resource.”
Disinformation about Grok's elections
The 2024 election cycle has not been without misinformation so far, with AI-generated content takes the top spot for the 'fake news' host.
One reason for this is that large language models (LLMs) are trained on a large amount of online data, without any process to filter out inaccurate information, which essentially means they can learn facts that are not true.
The amendment has not prevented Grok… generating misleading images and using real people's likenesses in questionable ways when requested. Musk introduced the chatbot as “unruly” and boasted of its ability to answer “spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.” Controversial examples of the AI's creations include images of celebrities doing drugs and holding guns – it's a real mystery why other chatbots reject these requests.
Currently, Grok is only available to premium X subscribers, but images can be shared with anyone. The site remains a concern for watchdog groups, as hate speech and misinformation campaigns have thrived since Musk took over the platform in 2022.
Via AP News
