Social media platform X has made a change to its Artificial Intelligence program after top election officials in five states warned it was spreading election disinformation.
The secretaries of state of Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to X Network owner Elon Musk, expressing concern that Grok, the Artificial Intelligence tool, had produced false information about voting deadlines in the states. , after President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race.
Officials asked the Grok chatbot to direct users asking questions about the election to CanIVote.org, a voting information website of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Before answering questions about the election, Grok now says, “For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 US election, please visit Vote.gov.”
Both websites are “reliable resources that can connect voters with local election officials,” the five secretaries of state said in a joint statement.
“We appreciate the X Network's action to improve their platform and hope they continue to make improvements that will ensure their users have access to accurate information from reliable sources in this critical election year,” they said. .
Grok can only be used by subscribers to paid versions of Platform X. But the five secretaries of state who signed the letter said election disinformation from Grok has been distributed across multiple social media platforms, reaching millions of people. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said. The platform did not respond to a request for comment.
The change, which directs users to a website with official voting information, does not appear to address concerns about the ability of the Grok chatbot to create fake images through Artificial Intelligence about the election.
Users have used it to post fake images of candidates on the platform, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Social media platforms are facing increasing scrutiny over their use in spreading disinformation, including about elections.
Since Mr. Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and changed its name to X, various groups have raised concerns about the rise of hate speech and misinformation being amplified on the platform, as well as cutbacks in moderation staff. content.
Experts say the moves represent a step back from progress made by social media platforms that had tried to crack down on political disinformation after the 2016 presidential race, and that they could cause a further spread of disinformation ahead of the election. of November of this year.
