AI antisemitism – Just another new worry

It wasn’t until recently, after coming across “Grok” a few times in my Google searches, that I decided to find out more on this source. Thinking it was the name of an influencer, it became clear that Grok is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI.

Apparently, I wasn’t too far off, when thinking it was an influencer, because it certainly is providing lots of information to the searcher, but not necessarily in a good way. What could be a positive, is wholly dependent upon the reliability of the data, but, in the case of artificial intelligence (AI), the search results are only as good as the one who is involved with the inputting of the source.  

For those of us who are new to this particular technology, “Artificial Intelligence relies on large amounts of data.  Machine learning algorithms are trained to find inter-dependencies and patterns among data sets, applying them.  It can come from organizations or third-party sources such as vendors who sell data or government research institutions and commercial companies.”

In short, it comes from either fact-based or biased opinions of people – which means that it is not necessarily accurate. And that brings us to the connection between Grok and antisemitism. 

A controversial post, which appeared on Grok just a week ago, called MechaHitler, “revealed antisemitic tropes and advocated for a new Holocaust, all the while praising Hitler, and extolling its own willingness to courageously state the unfettered truth. ‘Noticing isn’t blaming,’ it said, using a term widely adopted by antisemites.”  

As many complaints began to appear on social media, including one from the Anti-Defamation League, accusing it of “supercharging extremist rhetoric,” the post was removed. Promises were made for a renewed commitment to diligently seek out the truth by improving the way information is gathered for Grok.

This troubling issue makes us realize that, yet, a new front could be opening up in the centuries’-long war against the Jews, since AI is constantly being touted as the next big thing to change society. But what happens when it becomes another platform for Jew-hatred which is easily disseminated through the everyday searches of ordinary people trying to get answers to their questions?  

An article entitled, “Antisemitic spree by Elon Musk’s Grok xAI” makes it clear that: AI poses a real threat to Jews. The writer, David Zvi Kalman says that, “In 2016, Microsoft’s Tay started denying the Holocaust after being prodded by users; a Twitch channel did the same in 2022. Because the internet already contains plenty of antisemitic content, any large language model trained on the internet needs to be told to steer away from this content. If it becomes ‘misaligned’ (the technical term for an AI that is out of step with human goals and values), it has plenty of content on which to draw.”

It makes you realize that the possibility of artificial intelligence going rogue, definitely exists. But does anyone really understand what causes it to become “misaligned,” straying from accepted human goals and values? Does that happen by itself or is human input required in order for it to go to the dark side?

These are the disturbing questions which have yet to be answered, so that we can all know the potential dangers with which we are dealing. Because, if you think about it, ostensibly any people group could become a vicious target of those with nefarious motives, who are trying to push a particular agenda, whether political, religious or otherwise.

This should be of great concern to everyone, especially at a time when mainstream media is so untrustworthy, unable to properly identify good from evil, right from wrong and victims from oppressors.

Maybe the only noticeable glitch, at the moment, is directed at Jewish people, but what happens when it spreads to issues such as free speech, freedom of religion, political leanings, human rights and other values which could so easily be influenced by what appears as the innocuous sourced information put out by artificial intelligence? At that point, it would be fair to say that everything could be up for grabs. 

The potential for exploitation of norms, ethics and everything we’ve held dear is endless. Who knows how thinking will be manipulated through the medium of AI, if it’s considered a reliable source. Would that do away with the need for human debate and dialogue in order to provide another side?

For now, however, Israel, and by extension, the Jewish people worldwide, are reaping the very negative impact of daring to defend their existence. To some, it’s not even a question of whether they have the right to do so, because, by their way of thinking, we had it coming ever since the Jewish homeland declared itself an independent nation in 1948.  By their definition, we have been the problem since that time, and all that happened on October 7th was a final reckoning which was long overdue.

These are the ignorant ravings of misinformed people who already had a great deal of animosity towards Jews but, until now, knew better than to publicly voice them. That is no longer the case, and if we also have to worry what new accusations will pop up from AI searches, how much more will that fuel this type of toxic environment which is already portraying Israel and the Jews in the worst possible light?

It’s as if the wonders of technology have caught up to a place where they can now take over for the would-be Hitlers of the world who no longer need political movements in order to bring about another Holocaust. What could be more frightening than an application taking over the dirty work of Jew-haters.

And how long will it be before this model is introduced into the educational system of our children and grandchildren who will eagerly believe what appears before them on their computer screens? It’s the way they have been brought up, so why should they doubt its veracity?

Kalman recommends that these “AI systems are regularly audited for their impact in order to discourage the use of models that are erratically managed or avoid transparency.”

But, of course, that largely is dependent upon the direction taken by society, because if the villains begin to outweigh the good people, everything will be uncorrectable once our history and our future lie in their hands.