Elon Musk’s xAI has stepped into the AI bot-race with Grok. It has fewer restraints than its popular peers (such as ChatGPT & Claude) and has an additional version, which X users can use while tweeting (or “X-ing” 🤪). Plus, Grok spices its replies to an extent you won’t even feel talking to a bot.
But other than inheriting Musk’s style, Grok is also unique in its open source license.
Worth noting that @xAI has been and will open source its models, including weights and everything,
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024
As we create the next version, we open source the prior version, as we did with Grok 1 when Grok 2 was released.
This is something that sets Grok apart from ChatGPT and the like. What’s more, Grok will soon power Teslas and SpaceX missions.
I have been trying it for quite some time and have summed up my first “Grok” impressions for beginners and anyone interested with Musk’s AI bot.
What is Grok AI?
Grok is a generative AI chatbot based on xAI’s in-house large language model (LLM) with natural language processing at its heart. This means it’s a conversational AI which understands everyday conversations and responds likewise.
Its latest iteration has reasoning, thinking, and real-time internet search capabilities, putting it on par with the latest and the greatest offerings from OpenAI and the rest.
In addition, Grok AI’s integration with X (formerly Twitter) allows its users to draw insights from Elon Musk’s social media platform.
But the real reason people love Grok is for not acting like their strict grandmas (~less censorship) all the time. And that it’s more lively and has a sense of humor (you can see it yourself 👇).
These distinctions were enough to push me to try Grok and write this post. In the following sections, you’ll see Grok AI through my lens of skepticism (we shouldn’t trust AI, remember). I will help you decide if Grok AI is worth its salt or it’s just another AI bot we can conveniently avoid.
How Does Grok AI Work?
Grok AI is based on an auto-regressive transformer architecture, which means it analyzes every word in the user input and their relative importance (weight) before responding. It has been trained on a corpus of internet data with a 200,000 strong GPU cluster before using Reinforcement Learning (RL) for further refinements.
Currently, it has a 1 million token context window, which allows it to process complex and comprehensive documentation.
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 Grok’s world view to a single, privately-held social media platform. And we know nothing about Grok’s ability to see through social media misinformation and propaganda content.
Additionally, it’ll be interesting to know how Grok handles two pieces of information, one from X and the other from a random news outlet, contradicting each other. Unless we get answers to these questions, Grok’s connection with X is not all that assuring.
6 Key Features of Grok AI
Grok can be a powerful tool at your disposal, thanks to the following 6 standout features:
1. DeepSearch
This is for tasks heavily centered around advanced reasoning and analysis. For instance, it can search the internet and create a table comparing tools or find you the best deals. Or, you can throw a spreadsheet at it for data analysis.
You can check the below screengrab where I asked Grok to sum up public sentiment on Trump halting military aid to Ukraine.
Grok analyzed X and 30+ web pages to return 1000+ words, which is the typical length for a news article. At the bottom of it, you also get “Key Citations” for further reading.
2. Think
It allows the model to take some time, where it undergoes a chain-of-thought process to reevaluate, simplify, and polish the potential output before actually presenting it to the end user.
To test it’s thinking abilities, I tried asking Grok about Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who are now in the international space station for over 270 days.
Grok took ten seconds to collect its thoughts and replied in-depth yet concisely. You can see every detail, including when the astronauts were sent up, why they are still there, and the rescue plan.
Here’s 👇 a snippet of Grok’s thought process.
3. Search
This connects Grok to the rest of the internet to retrieve real-time data. It’s optional to turn this on. But please note, Search remains active if you’re using DeepSearch.
I asked Grok to sieve through the internet about Apple’s iOS 19 design overhaul. It analyzed top news outlets and small to mid-size publishers, and also couldn’t resist including one section about X sentiment. Overall, it prepared a decent summary that you can check in the following screenshot.
4. Image Creation
Though Grok’s user interface indicates it can create images, for some reason, it didn’t on my three consecutive attempts.
Suspecting this is a one-time issue, I googled for Reddit opinion. You can 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.
Then, I switched to Microsoft Edge and it could create images without any problems even with its native interface. So, it might be something related to Firefox (when using it outside of X), and you can try changing browsers and platforms until the developers fix it.
Coming to the quality, it’s nothing to applaud. Grok could not follow the prompt and missed too many details as you compare from the prompt and the output in the preceding image. The lack of high-quality image generation capabilities is something that needs to be addressed in future updates.
5. Uploads
You can upload images and documents for analysis within Grok.
However, Grok acted like a stubborn child, not letting me upload documents with Firefox. I tried images as well, but to no avail.
And again, switching browsers (to Edge) took me out of this situation, confirming Grok’s dislike of Firefox.
6. Integration with X
While Grok’s link with X didn’t feel 100% convincing to me for the reasons as mentioned earlier, this can be a boon for users of this specific social media platform. Thanks to Grok’s real-time knowledge access, you can check what’s hot and perform a brief sentiment analysis—an excellent use case for marketers. perform a brief sentiment analysis—an excellent use case for marketers.
Elon Musk and xAI’s Vision
Elon Musk isn’t confined to a single technological domain. The billionaire entrepreneur is active across a number of projects, including Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink. 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.[1] This will give Tesla owners the luxury of interacting with their cars and questioning their surroundings (such as finding a restaurant) using Grok via voice commands.
Elon also has plans to send Grok-powered Tesla bots to Mars for exploration by 2026.[2]
What’s more, the tech tycoon even suggested Grok for medical diagnosis.
Try submitting x-ray, PET, MRI or other medical images to Grok for analysis.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2024
This is still early stage, but it is already quite accurate and will become extremely good.
Let us know where Grok gets it right or needs work.
The last one met with concerns from medical professionals about Grok’s accuracy for such a high-stakes job. Besides, uploading one’s own health data to an AI bot isn’t secure, cite privacy advocates.
However, these red flags aren’t new and apply to every other AI bot in the race. But, considering Grok’s integration with everyday technologies, xAI and Grok developers must tread with extreme caution.
In the bigger picture, when you connect the dots with xAI’s vision, which is to “accelerate human scientific discovery”, it becomes pretty clear the Grok is just one piece in this broader AI puzzle.
It’s just the start as we take baby steps towards developing artificial general intelligence, which will need substantial input, innovation, and collaboration among global AI companies, including xAI.
How to Use Grok AI?
You can quickly access Grok by visiting its official website, grok.com. This works without any registration but is limited to three queries every two hours. For more, xAI suggests registering to Grok.com with X, Google, or Apple account.
Alternatively, it’s open for X users within its user interface.
I like Grok’s standard version more than what you get inside X. For one, the X UI will have its side panel intact, which kind of ruins the dedicated conversational experience. In addition, some settings, such as choosing among the available Grok versions, aren’t there within X, and you only get the latest one. 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 here’s how it looks 👇.
You can 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. Anyone already involved with an artificial intelligence chatbot will feel right at home, but even beginners won’t have any difficulty navigating it.
5 Use Cases of Grok AI
Other than the regular brainstorming, math, puzzles, and more, here are 5 primary ways to make use of Grok.
1. Consolidated Web Search
One of the best use cases of any AI chatbot, Grok included, is that it can save you from traditional internet searches. You get a concise summary and the opportunity for deep dives with citations. I have already included the details, along with how it works in the “Key Features of Grok AI section“, so not repeating this here.
2. Data Analysis
Features like DeepSearch and a sizeable one-million-token context window make Grok fit for picking patterns from huge chunks of structured and unstructured data.
3. Software Debugging & Preliminary Development
You can deploy Grok for code explanations, finding potential bugs, and prototyping.
For this, I tried “coding” (funny, since all I did was prompting) a 20-20-20 timer and branded it with Geekflare colors. Take a look at the code below.
I must say this is just one prompt, and I did a few more because it showed a syntax error. 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 Grok’s coding capabilities.
4. AI Customer Service Software
Customer service software is one of the most popular ways brands deploy smart bots like Grok. For this, you need to seek a third-party SaaS which allows Grok-based support with a custom knowledge base or try its API.
5. Summarize X
Marketers heavily into X can tap Grok to see what’s trending and prepare a summary of public opinions. I’m also not repeating this one since you have already seen it in action in the previous sections.
Ethical Concerns of Grok AI
With its brash attitude, openness to do anything and everything, and association with X, Grok is nothing less than a double-edged sword. We have already discussed how it proves useful, so now it’s time to look at the other side as well.
Misinformation and Bias
Integrating an AI chatbot with a privately owned social platform is never a good idea. 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.[3]
The misinformation is also fueled by Grok’s 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!!?!? @grok Image generation first tests. @xai @xDaily pic.twitter.com/juyHyY34xj
— Lance Adams 𝕏 (@TheLanceAdams) August 14, 2024
While the news is about Grok 2, I found out (in my personal trials) this applies to Grok 3, the latest iteration, as well.
Privacy and Data Security
Data sharing is turned on by default unless switched off manually, indicating the security implications if a user is unaware. To make things trickier, you need to change the privacy settings separately in X, as your social data may be used to train Grok if that toggle is left active.
While this is a common practice, especially with free versions of such smartbots, it’s a stark reminder of how the free services turn their users into products.
Intellectual Property Issues
Grok’s low guardrails also raise IP concerns as it can draw practically anything. As of now, perpetrators can produce content, matching the work of notable brands and individual artists, to undermine the value of quality human work without so much as a warning.
Replacing Human Workers
AI systems such as Grok are fast and decently accurate in various computer-oriented tasks, such as writing, debugging, summarization, data analysis, and more. These capabilities at the current price point (tens of dollars per month) make them a powerful alternative to their human counterparts.
For example, why would you pay salaries to customer support agents when a smart bot, trained on your custom data, can answer user queries 24/7 without fatigue. This does not imply AI will eradicate our work profiles, but this is definitely going to reduce the headcount almost everywhere.
How Grok AI Differs from Other AI Systems
One of the key Grok differentiators is its (overly) permissive outputs towards all sorts of user queries. Be it NSFW content, politically flaming statements and figures, or copyrighted material—for good or the worse—Grok can do it all.
Another aspect is its real-time access to X. You can ask what people are discussing about a specific topic or from a location and get context-aware outputs, summarizing interactions on X.
Finally, Grok is more “human” in its replies. When I first showed Grok responses to my colleague, she was quick to reply: “That really sounds like Musk speaking.”
Future of Grok AI
AI companies are buzzing past the we-have-made-this-conversational-bot stage. We will soon witness these AI systems taking over our web browsers to shop gadgets, order food, book tickets, transfer money, apply to jobs, comment on social media, and more. You already have such developments with OpenAI taking the lead through its Operator.
Grok will follow a similar roadmap. But due to xAI’s sphere of activity and influence, Grok powered cars, smartphones, and humanoids don’t feel like a distant reality.
Give or take a decade, Grok (and other AI) likely won’t be limited to a computer screen. Bots living alongside, breathing (okay, synthetically 😆), and helping in our daily life might be the reality we are transitioning into.
Scary or fun, that’s for you to decide!