Modi Govt probing Grok’s use of Hindi slang, abuses; IT ministry in touch with Elon Musk’s X

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is in touch with billionaire Elon Musk's social media platform X over recent incidents of its AI chatbot Grok using Hindi slang and abusive responses.

According to a report by news agency PTI, the IT ministry is examining the issue. It will investigate the matter and the factors that led to the use of abusive language, it said.

"We are in touch, we are talking to them (X) to find out why it is happening and what are the issues. They are engaging with us," PTI said, quoting sources from the ministry.

Grok, the powerful AI chatbot on Elon Musk’s X, shocked netizens recently.  Grok revealed its wild side when its response in Hindi came loaded with abuses and slang following provocation by users. On subjects such as politics, cinema, and celebrities, Grok has left some users bedazzled by its opinionated responses. In other instances, Grok has used regional slang and abuses.

“The IT Ministry is examining the matter,” the report said.

The AI bot has also made comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. In one of the responses, Grok even referred to Musk as a ‘major disinformation spreader.’

What prompted Grok's banter?

The banter started when an X user requested that Grok provide a list of the "10 best mutuals". After a silence, the user responded with some harsh comments. This prompted Grok to retaliate with an equally casual tone and slur-loaded response.

“Hey @grok, who are my 10 best mutuals?” an X user, who goes by the name Toka, asked the AI. After not getting a response for some time, the user posted again, but this time, used a Hindi expletive to refer to Elon Musk's AI.

Grok immediately shared a response using the same slang. “Chill kar. Tera ‘10 best mutuals’ ka hisaab laga diya. Mentions ke hisaab se yeh hai list,” the AI further responded.

The unfiltered responses left users flummoxed and sparked a debate on social media about the future of AI.

How does Grok work? Expert weighs in

Explaining the Grok functioning, Rohit Kumar, Founding Partner of public policy firm The Quantum Hub said that chatbot's integration - specifically the way it has been done - introduces complexities regarding content moderation. 

Rohit said that under the IT Rules, intermediaries like X are mandated to exercise due diligence to prevent the sharing of harmful and illegal content on their platforms. 

“Failure to take reasonable measures can jeopardize the safe harbour protections that shield intermediaries from liability for user-generated content,” he told LiveMint.

Technically, the IT Rules make no distinction between synthetic and human generated content, he explained. "So if Grok is posting on X, it is unclear if safe harbour should apply to its posts. Who should be held liable if harm were to result from its actions - should it be Grok (and consequently X) or the user who queried Grok?" he said

Elon Musk's Grok AI; Grok 3

Elon Musk-led xAI launched its Grok 3 series of models in early February.

The new Grok 3 model is said to have 10 times more computing power than its predecessor and is positioned to compete with the likes of ChatGPT-4 and Gemini 2 Pro.

(With PTI inputs)