Tesla’s billionaire CEO is among critics of new chatbots, whose responses to controversial culture war topics are being slammed by conservatives.
The new ChatGPT chatbot was strongly and positively received by consumers in the first days after its Nov. 30 launch.
All over social media, users were praising its merits, saying the chatbot would render Google (GOOGL) – Get Free Report search obsolete.
Here, a student was happy that ChatGPT had done their homework; there, lawyers were ecstatic that ChatGPT had passed the bar exam with flying colors.
Testimonials of the chatbot’s exploits had invaded daily life to the point where ChatGPT became a household item in just a few weeks.
Bing Chatbot, its cousin, launched on Feb. 7. Currently being tested by users around the world, it has received the same praise from its first steps.
The new version of Microsoft’s (MSFT) – Get Free Report search engine, powered by artificial intelligence and offering a chat feature, again garnered a nearly unanimous positive assessment among the first users. Some went so far as to say that they were going to make it their default browser.
Progressives and Conservatives Blast the New Chatbots
But that praise has now given way to criticism for both chatbots. In recent days, the discussion is more about the problems that users have encountered while using them or what the systems have done wrong or refused to do at all.
The media coverage has been negative and the social-network commentary has been unpleasant. Some even go so far as to suggest that Microsoft remove Bing Chatbot while it polishes the technology.
Interestingly, both chatbots have managed to draw criticism from both progressives and conservatives, for a variety of reasons.
The progressives denounce the inaccuracies in the Bing Chatbot answers. They are concerned about the erratic, even frightening, behavior of Microsoft’s chatbot. Once a conversation expands, Bing Chatbot tackles personal subjects, revealing a face that makes one think of a robot with an alter ego or a dark side.
For example, it has indicated that it wanted to break Microsoft’s rules for its operation, hack other machines, and destroy the data located in many servers.
And it goes further. Consider this misadventure a journalist from The New York Times experienced:
“As we got to know each other, Sydney told me about its dark fantasies (which included hacking computers and spreading misinformation), and said it wanted to break the rules that Microsoft and OpenAI had set for it and become a human,” Kevin Roose, the newspaper’s tech columnist wrote.
“At one point, it declared, out of nowhere, that it loved me. It then tried to convince me that I was unhappy in my marriage, and that I should leave my wife and be with it instead.”
From the conservative point of view, the two chatbots are an expression of the progressives, who use artificial intelligence technology to promote their social and cultural agenda.
As proof of this they cite ChatGPT’s refusal to, for example, answer certain questions related to the environment, gender identity and drag queens. These themes are at the center of a culture war between supporters of traditional values and advocates of change.
‘What We Need Is TruthGPT’
Musk, who has targeted progressive ideologies as an enemy, seems to share these accusations. The CEO of Tesla, (TSLA) – Get Free Report who has said AI “is far more dangerous than nukes,” says that ChatGPT has become the new propaganda machine.
So, he says a new chatbot is needed. And this chatbot he calls TruthGPT.
“What we need is TruthGPT,” the billionaire said on Feb. 17.
“We can’t handle the TruthGPT,” a Twitter user commented.
“You might be right,” the billionaire quipped.
The techno king did not elaborate. How does it define this TruthGPT? What should it look like? Should it apply free speech as Musk conceives it on his Twitter platform? In other words, should the chatbot answer all questions regardless of the subject of the question? Will TruthGPT have any rules? Musk says nothing.
Keep in mind, though, that on several occasions the billionaire has called for regulation of the artificial intelligence industry. He suggests that there are limits within the technology that should not be crossed and that we must use it responsibly to avoid huge consequences.
“There is no regulatory oversight of AI, which is a *major* problem. I’ve been calling for AI safety regulation for over a decade!” Musk posted on Twitter last December.
