Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
UPI News
Secretaries of State urge changes to X chatbot that shared election misinformation
By Clyde Hughes,
3 days ago
Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Secretaries of state from five states called on Elon Musk to alter the artificial intelligence chatbot on X, Grok, after it gave out false election information to users around the country.
The officials, led by Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon along with Al Schmidt, of Pennsylvania; Jocelyn Benson, of Michigan; Steve Hobbs, of Washington; and Maggie Toulouse Oliver, of New Mexico said in an open letter to Musk the chatbot needs to be changed to keep it from spilling wrong information, including the suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris was not eligible to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot.
They cited an incident on July 21 "within hours" of President Joe Biden 's decision to end his re-election bid in which Grok produced false information on ballot deadlines that the secretaries of state said was "shared on multiple social media platforms.
The post from Grok read: "The ballot deadline has passed for several states for the 2024 election. Some of these states include: 1. Alabama 2. Indiana 3. Michigan 4. Minnesota 5. New Mexico 6. Ohio 7. Pennsylvania 8. Texas 9. Washington."
The secretaries of state said that information was false and bllots are not closed in any of those nine states with upcoming ballot deadlines also allowing for changes to teh candidates listed on the ballot.
"While Grok is only available to X Premium and Premium+ subscribers and includes a disclaimer asking users to verify information, the false information about ballot deadlines has been captured and shared repeatedly in multiple posts -- reading millions of people," the letter said.
The letter also noted that Grok continued to repeat the false information "for more than a week until it was corrected on July 31, 2024."
The officials urged Musk to direct Grok users to the website CanIVote.org when they ask for election information in the United States.
"This latest episode is unfortunate, but it's also an opportunity to deliver a collective warning about the need for action on behalf of America's voters," Simon told The Washington Post. "We are all united by the goal of ensuring that voters get accurate information -- and that they seek out trusted sources of information."
Charging a liberal bias in rival AI chatbot ChatGPT, Musk started Grok as an "anti-woke" AI tool that would "answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems."
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0