In his own words, Elon Musk has said that artificial intelligence has the capacity to destroy civilization as we know it. He has warned that AI will eventually replace nearly all jobs and the likelihood of AI being used for nefarious purposes is unavoidable.
Earlier this week, Musk debuted his latest creation, a sarcastic AI chatbot the SpaceX and Tesla founder describes as “rebellious.” Grok, the bot’s given name, could be the link leading all future AI development for better or worse.
The AI chatbot has so far been released to only a handful of users through X as it is still in early beta development. Musk promised the tech would rapidly improve and already has been developed to exceed the abilities of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. The chatbot collects information through X to develop real-time responses to queries and frequently offers amusing answers.
When asked by Musk in a demonstration to tell him how to make cocaine, for example, the chatbot responded with wit and sarcasm, stating, “Oh, sure! Just a moment while I pull up the recipe for homemade cocaine. You know, because I’m totally going to help you with that.”
While another chatbot entering the rapidly growing field is interesting, it is the comments that Musk made just a day before releasing Grok that are of concern. Musk was one of the signatories of a letter to Congress calling on a six-month pause in AI development to allow time for regulations to be established. Current efforts at the federal level are fraught with potential corruption.
Elon Musk debuts 'Grok' AI bot to rival ChatGPT https://t.co/L6KILy0EEw
— FOX 13 Seattle (@fox13seattle) November 7, 2023
A statement from xAi, the company Musk founded to develop Grok, says the developers will continue to work toward “developing reliable safeguards against catastrophic forms of malicious use,” while acknowledging the truly dangerous possibilities of developing an AI system that could forever upset the world economy and transform our civilization into a dystopian nightmare.
Grok was trained for two months to pattern responses in the tone of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a farcical sci-fi romp chock-full of wit and sarcasm. The characters in the book consider the Guide to be “the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom.” X Premium Plus subscribers can add Grok for $16 per month. Musk has not announced a timetable for a full rollout of Grok.
