Yesterday, Neowin reported that xAI would be opening up its Grok generative AI chatbot to a limited audience, it’s still not clear today who this audience is but for the rest of us, Elon Musk has shown us some screenshots of what to expect. After an early beta, Grok will become available to all of the X Premium+ subscribers - that’s X’s most expensive paid tier.
Musk shared with us two screenshots of the new chatbot and a bit of information about it. First, it’s connected to the X platform which gives it access to real-time information giving it “a massive advantage over other models”, according to Musk. Second, this bot will be more lighthearted than other existing bots because it has some sarcasm and humor baked in, apparently this was a personal touch from the CEO.
xAI’s Grok system is designed to have a little humor in its responses pic.twitter.com/WqXxlwI6ef
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2023
The humor is actually an interesting aspect because when users give a dangerous query such as instructions for making illegal drugs, the bot will answer but with phony and sarcastic instructions before clarifying that it’s just kidding and wouldn’t encourage making drugs.
One of the big issues around AI at the moment is the seriousness everyone is taking it with. Some are saying it will be the end of jobs, others hate its artistic abilities and claim it’s not really art, and others complain that school kids shouldn’t be using it for homework.
Grok has real-time access to info via the 𝕏 platform, which is a massive advantage over other models.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2023
It’s also based & loves sarcasm. I have no idea who could have guided it this way 🤷♂️ 🤣 pic.twitter.com/e5OwuGvZ3Z
The humorous nature of xAI’s Grok bot could help to make the bot feel more personal which could help with the overall view that these bots are helpful to people and not a detriment.
With regards to having access to the X platform, it will be really interesting to see how this turns out. Often, Twitter is much faster than legacy news outlets at reporting developments, however, this is rarely verified. It’ll be good to see if Grok can distinguish fact from fiction - perhaps community notes will be involved but Musk didn’t clarify.
Finally, if you're wondering about the name Grok, it's a term used to mean you understand something well. It's an appropriate name given how much these chatbots do know.
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