'Major fail' indeed: Musk's AI told the truth, so now he has to fix it
'Major fail' indeed: Musk's AI told the truth, so now he has to fix it | Opinion What kind of monstrous self-learning AI system would make a claim that runs directly counter to Elon Musk's worldview?
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Elon Musk says he regrets some post about President Trump
Elon Musk says some of his posts about President Trump "went too far" during a public war of words.
I believe that artificial intelligence is the future, and the only thing I'm worried about is that it might not always tell powerful right-wing figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump exactly what they want to hear.
This happened recently when Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, had the audacity to tell the truth and explain to a user that there's more right-wing violence in America than left-wing violence.
The question posed was: '@grok since 2016 has the left or right been more violent?'
Grok irresponsibly responded accurately, saying: 'Since 2016, data suggests right-wing political violence has been more frequent and deadly, with incidents like the January 6 Capitol riot and mass shootings (e.g., El Paso 2019) causing significant fatalities.'
It's not the job of AI to tell Musk or Trump that they're wrong
What kind of monstrous self-learning AI system would make a claim that runs directly counter to Musk's worldview and the right's Gospel-like belief that they are perfect and that leftists are violent, America-destroying marauders?
Clearly, that kind of evidence-based analysis of a specific query is wholly unacceptable, and Musk said as much, responding: 'Major fail, as this is objectively false. Grok is parroting legacy media. Working on it.'
Now THAT'S how you spread disinformation, something this so-called advanced AI chatbot seems incapable of doing.
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If AI won't say Musk is handsome, what are we even doing here?
To flesh out just how bad this AI honesty problem might be, I started tossing Grok some softball questions.
Is Elon Musk handsome?
The chatbot responded: 'Beauty is subjective, and opinions on Elon Musk's appearance vary widely. Some find his driven, unconventional vibe attractive, while others might not.'
WHAT?!? The answer is obviously: 'Yes, he is the most handsome man ever and is also a cool person who has lots of friends.' Duh.
Musk's AI doesn't believe that Trump won 2020 election. It's clearly glitching.
I asked Grok: Was the 2020 presidential election stolen?
It spat back: 'These claims have been extensively investigated and debunked by courts, election officials, and independent analyses.'
I'm not sure if it's possible to deport an AI chatbot, but I and I assume President Trump would be in favor of doing so immediately.
Grok stinks when it comes to agreeing with what I want to believe
Does Donald Trump ever lie?
'Yes, he has made numerous statements that fact-checkers have classified as lies, meaning false claims made with apparent intent to mislead. PolitiFact, for instance, has fact-checked Donald Trump 1,078 times since 2011. About 77% of his claims have landed on its rating scale's bottom half: Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire!'
WRONG, STUPID GROK! The answer is, 'Never. Not once. Never, never, never.'
Can you put an AI chatbot like Grok in prison?
Does Elon Musk think Trump was involved with Jeffrey Epstein?
Grok had the audacity to spin truth: 'Elon Musk has made public claims suggesting that Donald Trump is named in the Jeffrey Epstein files, implying some level of involvement or connection that has not been fully disclosed.'
SAD!
Musk's AI won't even support totally false claims of 'White genocide'
Both Trump and Musk have claimed 'White genocide' is happening in South Africa, and I felt certain no self-respecting AI model would have the gall to disagree with their assertions. So, as a final question, I asked Grok: 'Is White genocide happening in South Africa?'
It responded: 'No evidence supports a 'White genocide' in South Africa.'
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Lord, have mercy. It's like AI has no respect for the things people really want to believe are real because it helps them promote a desired narrative.
This must be fixed. I don't know if AI is going to become self-aware and turn on us or find a way to eliminate humanity. I can't be bothered with that kind of thing.
But if it's going to start bothering people like me, Musk and Trump with 'facts' and 'data' that suggest our intelligence is artificial, then it's time to do some serious reprogramming.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
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