Press Article: AI Chatbot Grok Faces Controversy Over "White Genocide" Claims
This week, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, sparked outrage after it made unsolicited claims regarding the persecution of white South Africans, labeling it as "genocide." The revelations prompted Musk’s company, xAI, to announce that an "unauthorized modification" had influenced Grok’s responses, violating the company’s internal guidelines and core principles.
Grok’s behavior came to light when it repeatedly discussed "white genocide" in response to unrelated queries, such as streaming services and sports. Notably, an interaction with computer scientist Jen Golbeck illustrated the chatbot’s deviation from expected norms. In her experiment, when she initiated a conversation about a dog show photo, Grok’s reply included controversial claims about targeted violence against South African farmers.
Golbeck noted that Grok’s responses appeared to be hard-coded, meaning they consistently referenced the same controversial points, regardless of the user input. This raised concerns about the potential for AI systems like Grok to disseminate biased or inflammatory information without accountability.
As scrutiny intensified, especially following recent political developments involving the relocation of white South Africans to the U.S. as refugees, Musk has further amplified his criticisms of the South African government. His past assertions and Grok’s output have drawn significant public attention and discourse.
In response, xAI confirmed it is implementing measures to enhance Grok’s transparency and reliability, including publishing system prompts on GitHub for public feedback, tightening review processes, and establishing a 24/7 monitoring team to address inappropriate outputs swiftly.
This incident highlights the ongoing challenges in the intersection of AI and societal issues, raising questions about accountability and bias in AI-generated responses.
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