ChatGPT and Google Gemini are being joined in the chatbot playground by the self-styled bad boy Grok – created by Elon Musk’s platform xAI to be an edgy alternative.
The artificial intelligence model is now available to ‘premium plus users’ of X (formerly Twitter), the third and highest level of paid subscription on offer, which costs £16 per month.
Like its rivals, Grok can answer questions, write stories, complete a spellcheck, or come up with a poem combining themes of ‘pineapple’ and ‘jigsaws’, or whatever you wish.
But a difference is that it can tap into the Twitter engine to provide real-time updates on news.
Established frontrunners ChatGPT and Gemini (formerly Bard) both have free options which has left xAI needing to provide additional services to provide value for money.
And Musk has reportedly hedged his bets on being the Dennis the Menace to the Beano’s Softies of its rivals, designing Grok with a “rebellious streak”.
Last year, the Tesla and Space X boss demonstrated that the bot would have no hesitation in joking about Sam Bankman-Fried or riffing about how to make cocaine.
“It is designed to have a little humour in its responses,” Musk said.
“The threshold for what it will tell you, if pushed, is what is available on the internet via reasonable browser search, which is a lot…”
Grok will also be plugged into what is happening on Twitter and will provide more direct answers than the nuanced approach often seen on other programmes.
Musk has also said that Grok can also be sarcastic in ways not seen elsewhere.
When asked to compare itself with Grok, Google Gemini said Musk’s baby would be “more engaging in conversation” and provide “witty, up-to-date knowledge”. Gemini added that it would provide “potentially higher factual accuracy” than Grok for free.
It said: “If you prioritise factual accuracy and in-depth answers, Bard might be a good fit. If you value a more entertaining and informative conversation with access to real-time updates, Grok could be the way to go.”
How does Grok work?
The programme is backed by a model called Grok-1, which Tech Crunch found to be as powerful as the Llama 2 model used by Meta.
It is still in its early stages and only available in some territories until a Grok 1.5 model is available later this year.
Developers will hope that this will stop bugs such as hallucination – when chatbots provide false information with a resolute and confident air.
Musk has also pledged to open source Grok having seen ChatGPT maker Open AI turn into a “for-profit” enterprise.
Musk said at Britain's AI Safety Summit last year that he wanted to establish a "third-party referee" that could oversee firms developing AI and sound the alarm if they have concerns.
Seeking an alternative to OpenAI and Google, Musk launched xAI last year to create what he said would be a "maximum truth-seeking AI".
