Did you know X Could See Rise in Misinformation as More Users Turn to Musk’s AI Chatbot Grok for Fact-Checking

 

Human fact-checkers are expressing concerns about the possibility of a rise in misinformation on X. The news comes after more X users are turning to Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok.

This has raised serious concerns among fact-checkers of the industry who are already having trouble combating misinformation spread, thanks to AI. During this month’s start, X enabled many users to call out the xAI Grok and ask it questions on various things. This move was quite similar to how Perplexity works, which is also running on an automated X account that provides a similar experience.

Soon after xAI created the automated Grok account on X, many users began to experiment with it and ask all sorts of queries. Some people inside markets like India began to question Grok’s fact-check comments. There were some queries about controversial matters like specific political beliefs or religious stances.

Many fact-checkers are worried about using the Grok chatbot or any other kind of AI assistant of this kind. This is because bots can frame the answers to make it appear so much more convincing, even if that’s not factually correct. There are many instances of fake news spreading like wildfire with misinformation seen with the Grok chatbot in the past.

In August of 2024, we saw five state secretaries urge Elon Musk to roll out some critical changes for Grok after all the misleading reports produced by the chatbot showed up on social media, before the American elections. Other chatbots were seen producing similar types of inaccurate information on the elections last year.

Then we saw disinformation researchers share more about how AI chatbots such as ChatGPT might begin producing convincing text with false narratives. Remember, human fact-checkers are certainly more reliable as they make use of more credible data and different sources of information for verification. They also take complete accountability for findings with names and companies linked to make sure there is credibility.

India has expressed concerns over X and Grok, adding how the answers appear very convincing. But it’s only as great as the data that it’s getting supplied with. So that means someone needs to take charge and in this case, it has to be the government.

The fact that there is no transparency is another issue being discussed right now. A lack of transparency could be molded in any direction to cause harm as it’s misused to spread misinformation.

In one of the replies published during this week’s start, we saw X's Grok account acknowledge that it did in fact spread misinformation and violate privacy. But the fact that no disclaimers come with using this account is what has experts debating. You might be falling into the trap of misinformation without even realizing it. After all, one of the biggest drawbacks of AI is hallucinations. 

 

 H/T: TC