An automated response by Grok, the artificial-intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, has raised questions about accuracy and bias after the system removed an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while leaving an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and justified the decision by presenting disputed legal claims as established fact.
The episode unfolded on X after a user asked Grok to “remove the picture of the war criminal” from a post that displayed side-by-side photos of Netanyahu and Khamenei. Grok responded by removing Netanyahu’s image and left Khamenei’s.
Grok justified its decision by stating that Netanyahu “has ICC arrest warrants for war crimes like starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity in Gaza,” while adding that Khamenei “faces accusations of human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in Iran (UN reports, 2024), but no ICC warrants.”
The explanation was notable not only for the action Grok took, but for how it framed its reasoning. The chatbot asserted the existence of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court as evidence of a war crime – which it is not.
International law specialists note that the legal status of any ICC actions related to Israel is complex and contested, and that Israel is not a member of the court. Israeli officials have rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction and any allegations of war crimes. Grok’s response did not acknowledge those disputes, nor did it clarify the procedural status of any ICC proceedings.
By contrast, Grok described Khamenei as facing accusations documented in United Nations reports, but treated those allegations as insufficient to meet the threshold implied by the user’s request, effectively drawing its own line between accusation and culpability.
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11 Responses
Why is it shocking? It’s concerning and disappointing, sure. But considering Grok was created by the antisemite Musk and consistently used as confirmation bias for antisemites, why expect otherwise?
Both of them should be called war criminals, Israel and Iran.
But not a word about Russia & Ukraine !!!
Back when us boomers were young and savvy, we recognized a core rule of computer science: GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out). Apparently we were remiss in not teaching the youngins about it. AI is just a fancy name for a computer program, and if you program it with junk data, you get junk data out of it.
The warthog beast executes his people in public every single day yet Chatbot celebrates his. עולם הפוך ראיתי
The warthog beast executes his people in public every single day yet Chatbot celebrates his. עולם הפוך ראיתי.
Is Elon Musk dyslexic?
Are you for real?! How is this “shocking”? IT’S A MACHINE! It has no judgment and makes no judgment. It is programmed to give a plausible answer to any question; if necessary it MAKES THINGS UP to give such an answer, because not only does it not care whether its answer is true, it doesn’t even understand the concept of truth and falsity. It’s exactly like tossing a coin and complaining that it came up heads.
chiefshmerel, what drugs are you on, that make you think Elon Musk is in any way an antisemite? That’s an absolutely bizarre thing to say! As crazy as saying Trump is an antisemite!
Joseph Goebbels,
You’re a war criminal and should be tuned over to Germany for prosecution as an anti-Semitic Nazi, just like your close relative was. You’re certainly not Jewish!
GHD: What? Was there a deleted comment you responded to?
Milhouse,
Joseph, our resident Nazi troll, goes by “ujm” and comes from very tainted lineage.