A Threat to Democracy? 😱
Elon Musk’s xAI has just released Grok-2, an image generator using Flux with almost no safeguards. This feature allows users to create uncensored deepfakes, like vice president Kamala Harris and Donald Trump posing as a couple, sparking deep concerns—is this unprecedented creative freedom, or a dangerous threat to democracy and the integrity of public discourse?
Last week, Musk’s xAI quietly rolled out the beta release of Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini, offering them exclusively to X premium subscribers. The real surprise? A largely uncensored AI image generator bundled with the models.
Within hours, X was flooded with AI-generated images that not only stretched creative limits but also sparked ethical debates. This new feature empowers users to create photorealistic images on politically sensitive or even fantastical themes—like depicting vice president Kamala Harris pregnant and paired with Donald Trump as a couple, or past presidents in compromising situations.Â
The controversy is already heating up. Some speculate it might be a PR stunt to promote the beta release by temporarily removing guardrails to entice more subscribers to X and Grok. And others think it was done deliberately to throw light on the risk that advanced AI systems may possess.Â
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Sector 6 | The Newsletter of AIM to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.