Grok is subject to a European Commission investigation. Credit: Pexels[/caption]
If pets take after their owners, there might be a parallel with large language models (LLMs). Grok, the AI tool integrated into Elon Musk’s X, has demonstrated a Musk-like tendency to generate headlines and controversy. The European Commission has recently announced its launch of an investigation into reports Grok has been used to create sexualised images of other X users. This follows a similar announcement from Ofcom, which said there had been “deeply concerning reports” of Grok being used to create and share undressed images of people.
These stories are more relevant to maritime than they might initially appear.
Firstly, they underline the tension that exists for the industry when it comes to embracing emerging technology, with the opportunities new solutions offer tempered by the risk of misuse. Equally, in an industry that – despite recent progress – cannot remain complacent when it comes to diversity and inclusion, the news that Grok has contributed to online misogyny is a further reminder that the journey to becoming a more inclusive sector requires robustly enforced policies that are adapted as required to account for new technology.
More broadly, maritime – and indeed businesses in all sectors – should respond to the proliferation of deepfake images by redoubling efforts when it comes to establishing trust. Now that it’s possible to type a simple prompt and create an image of vessel striking a bridge or a CEO speaking with a competitor, for example, businesses will need to remain alert to how the narrative around their organisation can be manipulated.
Despite these challenges, we should note that Grok, among a range of other leading LLMs, provides the ability to gain rapid insight into key industry issues and draws – to some degree – on credible sources to perform this task.
Of course, these tools ‘hallucinate’, which is why they quite rightly include disclaimers noting their outputs require fact-checking. However, when it comes to anything from initial research to personal admin tasks, marketing outreach and even technical troubleshooting, they appear to have their place. In this regard, an analogy can be drawn between Grok and the broader thrust of what digitalisation and AI offers maritime. Applied in the right way – with a considered approach built on a deep understanding of the problems being tackled and the specific technology that is most suitable – digital technologies and AI can prove hugely valuable.
Maritime will need rise to the challenge of seizing opportunities while mitigating the challenges – and we hope to play a small part through our ‘De-mystifying digitalisation and AI’ campaign that runs throughout this year.
We hope you enjoy this first edition of our newsletter and do drop us a line if you’d like to get involved in our campaign – we have final spaces available at our roundtables, including our Paris event on 17 March and Singapore on 23 April – or if there’s an industry issue you’d like us to cover. As Elon Musk used to say, vox populi vox dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God).
– Ed Parshotam, Contributing Editor