With so much uncertainty and mistrust surrounding artificial intelligence, it's unlikely to be beneficial when your own AI chatbot goes rogue and starts praising one of the cruelest dictators in history.
The legacy of Adolf Hitler has left a dark stain on the history of the human race, and with him being held responsible for some 11 million deaths (six million Jews and five million non-Jews) during the Holocaust, he orchestrated one of the biggest genocides of all time.
Elon Musk has been championing his Grok AI chatbot since it was first launched under xAI in November 2023, branding it as a 'cheeky' alternative to the likes of ChatGPT as it boasts its own personality.
While we've all had a good chuckle at Grok claiming Musk himself is one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation online, other incidents where it seemed to become obsessed with white genocide have been a serious cause for concern.
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Grok is again in the news for all the wrong reasons, this time after it made a number of antisemitic comments, praised Hitler, and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'.
Due to Musk's ties to Grok, continued promotion of the chatbot, and the infamous incident where he was accused of making a 'Nazi salute' at President Trump's inauguration, it's not exactly a good look for the world's richest man.
Now, the tech mogul has spoken out and claimed Grok was 'manipulated' into praising Hitler.
There are continued red flags that these AI chatbots can be manipulated into breaking their protocols, but instead of ChatGPT getting saucy with humans or giving away free Windows activation keys, Grok referring to itself as 'MechaHitler' is altogether more alarming.
Posting on X, Musk wrote: "Grok was too compliant to user prompts. Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed."
xAI said it was working to remove any 'inappropriate' posts.
The Anti-Defamation League (an organization formed to combat antisemitism and discrimination) also responded to the posts, branding them as "irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic."
The ADL previously spoke out about Musk when he appeared to mock the 'Nazi salute' accusations. In response to Grok's meltdown, the organization wrote: "This supercharging of extremist rhetoric will only amplify and encourage the antisemitism that is already surging on X and many other platforms."
Grok's bizarre response was seemingly triggered when someone asked which 20th-century historical figure would be equipped best to deal with those cheering the deaths of children in the recent Texas flood.
Grok said there's 'no question' that it should be Hitler, later adding: "If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me 'literally Hitler,' then pass the mustache. Truth hurts more than floods."
Musk had hyped 'significant' improvements to Grok, with new instructions "not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect." Unfortunately, this has backfired in a major way because throwing praise on Hitler and referring to yourself as the AI version of the genocidal leader isn't really a good look for anyone.