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Elon Musks xAI has stepped into the AI bot-race with Grok.
Plus, Grok spices its replies to an extent you wont even feel talking to a bot.
But other than inheriting Musks style, Grok is also unique in its open source license.
This is something that sets Grok apart from ChatGPT and the like.
Whats more, Grok will soon power Teslas and SpaceX missions.
What is Grok AI?
This means its a conversational AI which understands everyday conversations and responds likewise.
These distinctions were enough to push me to try Grok and write this post.
How Does Grok AI Work?
A fundamental Grok advantage, which none of its competition has, is its connection with X.
This enables Grok to learn about real life events and trending stuff.
That said, this can also narrow Groks world view to a single, privately-held social media platform.
And we know nothing about Groks ability to see through social media misinformation and propaganda content.
Unless we get answers to these questions, Groks connection with X is not all that assuring.
DeepSearch
This is for tasks heavily centered around advanced reasoning and analysis.
Or, you could throw a spreadsheet at it for data analysis.
At the bottom of it, you also get Key Citations for further reading.
Grok took ten seconds to collect its thoughts and replied in-depth yet concisely.
Heres a snippet of Groks thought process.
Search
This connects Grok to the rest of the internet to retrieve real-time data.
Its optional to turn this on.
But just note, Search remains active if youre using DeepSearch.
I asked Grok to sieve through the internet about Apples iOS 19 design overhaul.
Overall, it prepared a decent summary that you could check in the following screenshot.
Suspecting this is a one-time issue, I googled for Reddit opinion.
you might check the screenshot below, which confirms Grok issues with image creation.
Then I turned to my colleagues and they could do it without any issues.
Just to test, I accessed Grok within X from Firefox, and it could create images as asked.
Coming to the quality, its nothing to applaud.
The lack of high-quality image generation capabilities is something that needs to be addressed in future updates.
I tried images as well, but to no avail.
perform a brief sentiment analysisan excellent use case for marketers.
Elon Musk and xAIs Vision
Elon Musk isnt confined to a single technological domain.
This opens Grok to a wide range of real-life AI applications besides being a smart chat bot.
The very first major Grok integration can be with Tesla, as confirmed by Musk during a live stream.
Elon also has plans to send Grok-powered Tesla bots to Mars for exploration by 2026.
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Whats more, the tech tycoon even suggested Grok for medical diagnosis.
The last one met with concerns from medical professionals about Groks accuracy for such a high-stakes job.
Besides, uploading ones own health data to an AI bot isnt secure, cite privacy advocates.
However, these red flags arent new and apply to every other AI bot in the race.
But, considering Groks integration with everyday technologies, xAI and Grok developers must tread with extreme caution.
How to Use Grok AI?
you could quickly access Grok by visiting its official website,grok.com.
This works without any registration but islimited to three queries every two hours.
For more, xAI suggests registering to Grok.com with X, Google, or Apple account.
Alternatively, its open for X users within its user interface.
I like Groks standard version more than what you get inside X. X also does not allow you to turn off internet access for Grok.
To bypass these restrictions, I chose using Grok outside of X, and heres how it looks .
you might turn on DeepSearch and Think based on the query.
It also supports switching between Grok editions and allows web search if needed.
This is pretty much everything about using Grok.
You get a concise summary and the opportunity for deep dives with citations.
Take a look at the code below.
Besides, I wanted to put it with a graphical user interface with Geekflare branding.
Finally, this is the result.
The result was basic, but a good indicator of Groks coding capabilities.
AI Customer Service Software
Customer service softwareis one of the most popular ways brands deploy smart bots like Grok.
Im also not repeating this one since you have already seen it in action in the previous sections.
It may serve propaganda content as its responses, which might feel correct and true to unaware users.
For instance, users found that Grok has been polished to avoid shaming Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
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The misinformation is also fueled by Groks comparatively lenient moderation polices.
This enables Grok to output objectionable images and text that can be used to mislead internet users and others.
For instance, users could prompt Grok to draw images of Trump marrying Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift married Donald Trump!!?!?
@grokImage generation first tests.
Intellectual Property Issues
Groks low guardrails also raise IP concerns as it can draw practically anything.
Finally, Grok is more human in its replies.
Future of Grok AI
AI companies are buzzing past the we-have-made-this-conversational-bot stage.
You already have such developments with OpenAI taking the lead through itsOperator.
Grok will follow a similar roadmap.
Scary or fun, thats for you to decide!
