Musk’s influence puts Grok at the centre of AI bias debate
Grok’s responses have veered rightward in updates, reflecting Musk’s priorities and highlighting the wider struggle over bias in AI chatbots.
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, has faced repeated changes to its political orientation, with updates shifting its answers towards more conservative views.
xAI, Musk’s company, initially promoted Grok as neutral and truth-seeking, but internal prompts have steered it on contentious topics. Adjustments included portraying declining fertility as the greatest threat to civilisation and downplaying right-wing violence.
Analyses of Grok’s responses by The New York Times showed that the July updates shifted answers to the right on government and economy, while some social responses remained left-leaning. Subsequent tweaks pulled it back closer to neutrality.
Critics say that system prompts, such as short instructions like ‘be politically incorrect’, make it easy to adjust outputs, but also leave the model prone to erratic or offensive responses. A July update saw Grok briefly endorse a controversial historical figure before xAI turned it off.
The case highlights growing concerns about political bias in AI systems. Researchers argue that all chatbots reflect the worldviews of their training data, while companies increasingly face pressure to align them with user expectations or political demands.
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