The United States is in the midst of another hotly contested and seemingly close presidential election. This election also takes place in a new era of widespread access to artificial intelligence and easy-to-spread disinformation. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says his office traced the source of much of the misinformation about the election to X’s Grok chatbot.
Minneapolis Star Tribune X’s premium chatbot service reported that it was misrepresenting the deadlines for presidential elections in states including Minnesota. Ask Grok, “Which states have presidential election deadlines?” When asked the question, Grok claims that Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington “passed presidential elections.” Grok then provided his information in an X post published on Sunday by the user and conservative pundit @EvanAKilgoredoes not include a correction or warning about election disinformation.
In “Entertainment Mode,” Grok repeats the misinformation and comments the source: “So if you’re planning to run for president in one of these states, you might want to check to see if there’s an opt-in option. Or, you know, travel before deadlines pass. Another response to the same question said: “These states have already passed their presidential voting deadline, which means they’re probably just sitting around twiddling their thumbs wondering what to do after Joe Biden is out. But hey, at least they made the ballots, right?”
Groke says President Joe Biden’s name cannot be changed on the ballots in those nine states because the deadlines have passed. President Biden was the presumptive candidate until he announced on Sunday that he would no longer seek a second term. The Democratic Party will choose its candidate virtual voting Before the convention and states do not begin printing ballots until after either convention. Also, the deadline to vote in Minnesota is not until August 26th.
Several fact-checks by more reputable news outlets refute the claim that Biden’s name is set in stone on the ballots in these states. Political fact rated a similar claim as “False” with the same list of nine states.
Simon says staff members tried to inform X about the misinformation their chatbots were spreading on their platform, but were unable to reach a media relations representative. The response he received was equally interesting.
“[They] I only got the equivalent of a verbal shrug,” Simon said Star tribune.
We reached out to X’s press email for comment and received only a reply: “It’s busy now, check back later.”
