X Makes Its Grok AI Chatbot Available to All Users

The wait is over, with all X users now able to access Elon’s non-woke “Grok” AI chatbot, which had thus far only been available to X Premium subscribers. Which is fewer than 1% of the platform’s users.

With Grok, users can now ask questions, generate images (which is now even better with X’s new Aurora integration), analyze posts to get more context as to their meaning, generate sassy responses (via “Unhinged Fun” mode), and more.

Though whether AI chatbots have a real place within social media apps remains to be seen. The latest wave of generative AI tools has seen Meta jam its AI chatbot into virtually all of its apps, while LinkedIn has also been adding more and more AI elements to “assist” in your posting process.

But is it really assistive to get AI tools to generate posts on your behalf, which you then, post to social media apps that are foundationally built around actual social, human-to-human interaction?

I guess, an argument could be made as to what defines “social” interaction in this context. But the concept of social media, thus far, has been that it gives everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions, thereby democratizing media to some degree.

In which case, posting AI generated posts and images seems to run counter to that. Right?

As such, I’m not sure that I see the long-term value of the integration of gen AI into social apps.

Am I saying that the potential of generative AI overall is overblown? Well, no, as there are a heap of ways in which AI can be used to streamline workflows, improve processes, etc., and it will be transformative in many sectors and applications. 

But generative AI, via the offerings that are currently available at least, is only really of value when you know what you want from it, and you have enough of your own expertise and insight to analyze its outputs.

For example, gen AI will make it easier for lawyers to research cases, as they’ll be able to, say, ask it to come up with alternative angles for argument, which they may not have considered, and then find cases that establish precedent for those approaches. That could save a heap of time, but you still need to understand enough about legal process to know if the output it provides is correct, and how to cross-check the case examples in order for this to actually be of benefit.

As such, it’s unlikely to turn an untrained person into a viable legal representative, but it could help to make an existing expert better at what they do.

That’s the case in virtually all applications, with AI being assistive, not replacive. But the AI hype train is all about how AI will soon think for itself, and outsmart everybody, and come up with ever more efficient ways to put more people out of the job. 

But it won’t. Artificial general intelligence (i.e. computers that think for themselves) is nowhere close to reality, while the current AI models are little more than smart spreadsheets. As such, it’s not the revolution that the hype machine suggests, though it does have unique, practical value in many cases.

I just don’t see social media being one of them. I get why Meta is working on AI, as a potential tool to simplify its next-level AR and VR experiences, by enabling people to build their own digital worlds without coding knowledge. I can see the future there, but I don’t see any significant value in AI chatbots, beyond novelty usage.

And I don’t see why people are going to use Grok in any significant way.

Sure, there are some semi-interesting use cases, like analyzing X trends, and maybe using Grok to seek out info on broader X usage trends and analytics. There will be some niche uses for it, but for the majority of people, I doubt the addition of Grok is going to truly enhance their X experience.

Or their Facebook experience, or IG. Because as much as the platforms seem excited by image generators, and bots that’ll pretend to be your friend, I don’t believe that most people care about using AI to create random visuals, or talk to recreations of people that aren’t actually real.

Because none of these uses are “social”. They’re not representative of your experience, they’re not connecting you with the wider world, they’re not demonstrating your perspective. They’re just bots, and bots have always been an annoyance on social apps.

And even with an AI re-brand, I don’t think that makes them any more appealing.