Social platform X edits AI chatbot after election officials warn that it spreads misinformation
CHICAGO– Social media platform X has made a change to its KI chatbot after five state secretaries warned that it spreading election misinformation.
Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to Elon Musk who complained that the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, false information produced about the state’s voting deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race.
The State Secretaries have requested that the chatbot instead refer users who ask questions about the elections to CanIVote.orga voting information website maintained by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Before the chatbot answers questions about the election, it now says, âFor accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. elections, visit Vote.gov.â
Both websites are âtrustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials,â the five secretaries of state said in a joint statement.
âWe appreciate Xâs action to improve their platform and hope they continue to make improvements to ensure their users have access to accurate information from trusted sources in this crucial election year,â the spokespeople said.
Grok is only available to subscribers of premium versions of X. But the five foreign ministers who signed the letter said Grokâs election disinformation was shared across multiple social media platforms and reached millions of people. Grok continued to repost the false information for 10 days before correcting it, the ministers said. The platform did not respond to a request for comment.
The change, which promotes a link to an official voting website, does not appear to address Grokâs ability to create misleading AI-generated images related to elections. People have used the tool to flood the platform with fake images of candidates including Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Grok debuted last year for X Premium and Premium Plus subscribers and was touted by Musk as a ârebelliousâ AI chatbot that will âanswer tough questions that most other AI systems would reject.â
Social media platforms are facing increasing scrutiny for their role in spreading misinformation, including about elections. The letter also warned that inaccuracies could be expected for AI productsespecially chatbots like Grok that are based on large language models.
Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and changed its name to X, watchdog groups have raised concerns about the rise of hate speech and misinformation on the platform, and there have been layoffs of content-moderating staff.
Experts say the moves represent a step backward from the progress made by social media platforms as they sought to better combat political disinformation after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and could be a worsening disinformation landscape before the elections in November this year.
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