Elon Musk has introduced a new AI chatbot called “Grok” on his social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, currently, only selected users have access to it.
Mr. Musk praised Grok, stating that in many ways, it’s the best AI chatbot available.
He also mentioned that Grok has a sense of humor and enjoys sarcasm when answering questions.
Yet, like other AI tools, Grok has some issues.
Some other AI models refuse to respond to certain questions, especially those seeking criminal advice.
However, Musk claims that Grok will tackle, that other AI systems shy away from.
In a demonstration video shared by Mr. Musk, someone asked Grok for a step-by-step guide to make cocaine.
Grok responded humorously, saying it would provide the recipe, but then offered only general and sarcastic information before warning against pursuing the idea.
Grok also made a small mistake when discussing the trial of crypto-entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, stating that it took eight hours for the jury to deliver a guilty verdict, whereas it was actually under five.
AI tools like Grok have faced criticism for sounding convincing in their writing style while making basic errors.
Grok XAI, the team behind this chatbot, was launched in July.
It’s a separate company but closely connected to Mr. Musk’s other ventures, X and Tesla.
Musk wants Grok to be a truth-seeking AI that understands the universe.
One of its advantages is its access to up-to-date information from the X platform, setting it apart from some rival versions.
However, other AI tools also offer more up-to-date responses to paying customers.
Grok is currently in a testing or “beta” phase but will later be available to paying subscribers of X.
It will also become a standalone app.
Mr. Musk has acknowledged the risks associated with AI development but remains a strong advocate of the technology.
He was a co-founder of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT.
Microsoft invested in OpenAI, making the tool available on its platform.
Google introduced its AI model, Bard, and Meta launched Llama, to generate text answers that sound human-like using previously ingested information.
The name “Grok” was inspired by a term coined in a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein in 1961, where it meant deep empathy with others.
However, xAI stated that Grok was modeled after Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, designed to answer a wide range of questions and even suggest what questions to ask. xAI described Grok as a “very early beta product,” the result of two months of training.
