As Requested, X Makes a Change on Election Answers

State officials had pressured platform over AI chatbot responses
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2024 2:30 PM CDT
Updated Aug 26, 2024 6:11 PM CDT
State Officials Say Grok Is Spreading Fake Election Info
"We are calling on you to immediately implement changes to X’s AI search assistant, Grok," the secretaries of state wrote to Musk.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)
UPDATE Aug 26, 2024 6:11 PM CDT

After pressure from elected officials, X has made a change to its AI chatbot to limit the spread of election misinformation. Five secretaries of state had asked that it instead direct users with campaign questions to CanIVote.org, which is operated by the National Association of Secretaries of State. Before listing responses, Grok now suggests, "For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit Vote.gov." The state officials praised the decision. X's change doesn't appear to do anything about Grok's ability to create misleading, AI-generated images tied to elections, the AP points out.

Aug 5, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

Five secretaries of state have sent an open letter to Elon Musk, urging him to make changes to Grok, X's AI chatbot, to stop it from spreading misinformation ahead of the election. The secretaries of state from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan, and New Mexico cited a widely shared recent post from Grok that falsely claimed Vice President Kamala Harris had missed the ballot deadline in nine states, the Washington Post reports. The secretaries of state urged Musk to "immediately implement" changes to Grok to "ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year."

  • Grok told users that ballots were "locked and loaded" in Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Washington, meaning Harris had "missed the boat," the Guardian reports. "This is false," the secretaries of state wrote. "In all nine states the opposite is true."
  • "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—reaching millions of people," they wrote. "Furthermore, Grok continued to repeat this false information for more than a week until it was corrected on July 31, 2024."

  • The secretaries of state noted that ChatGPT, "understanding the risks of inaccurate information produced by chatbots," has been programmed to direct users asking for election information to the nonpartisan CanIVote.org resource and urged Musk to do the same with Grok.
  • Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says this is a "test case" before further misinformation surfaces. "There is considerable reach here for this misinformation," he tells the Star Tribune. "It's being repeated and it's being shared over and over again. What else are we going to see on Grok? What else are we going to see on X that perpetuates bad information?" He says his office's earlier attempts to reach out to Musk were met with "the equivalent of a shoulder shrug."
  • CNBC reports that the office of Michigan's secretary of state is investigating the America PAC backed by Musk. The office says the "register to vote" tab on the PAC's website collects voter information but does not give them a form to register to vote.
(More Elon Musk stories.)

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