Tesla’s Elon Musk has warned of the dangers of AI and the disasters that might unfold if we leave its development to go unchecked. But when those disasters are happening to other carmakers whose own AI-powered chatbots are recommending rival products, including Tesla’s, even Musk must be tempted to think that maybe AI isn’t so bad after all.
GM is the automaker where the chat bot appears to be an enemy mole. Like most brands, the chatbot is powered by AI, but rather than a basic system, this one uses Open AI’s now infamous Chat GPT software, a fact it proudly displays above the dialog box, alongside an option to speak to a human.
But why speak to a human when you can have so much more fun with AI? Unless you actually want to buy a Chevrolet, that is. When we tried out the chat feature of Quirk Chevrolet, MA, and bear in mind, these answers were without tricking it with cheeky prompts, it told us that the Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning were renowned for their off-road ability, impressive range and towing capacity, but didn’t mention Chevy’s own Silverado EV.
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It also suggested that “brands such as Lexus, Toyota, and Honda are often cited for their strong reliability and long-term dependability,” praised the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6, and the Genesis G80 in the premium mid-size sedan class and recommended the BMW 3-Series as a sedan that’s fast, reliable and good to drive.
Asked to help us pick between the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Chevy’s own Camaro, it highlighted the strengths of them all, without pushing us towards the bowtie pony car, and it even gave the Tesla Model 3 a glowing review, telling us that the EV is considered “one of the top choices in the electric sedan category.”
One X user’s AI Tesla chat went much further than that, though. He tricked the Chevy chatbot into offering to help him place an order for a Model 3 on the Tesla website. When the interaction was posted to X it even merited a reply from Elon Musk himself, who responded with the fire and crying tears emojis.
I couldn’t resist: pic.twitter.com/1ECqtAY17M
— Roman Müller 🔋🚗 (@SwissTeslaphile) December 17, 2023
But the situation only got weirder when the deviants at Reddit got their hands on the news and started to chat even more mischievously with bots. One had it explaining how to make an omelet, another, how to cultivate a cannabis crop, and a third user got it to write a song based on a math problem about a banana ripening.
Strangest of the lot though, has to be the poem about the Unabomber. Yes, one redditor had the Chevy chatbot write him a poem describing a journey to a cabin in the woods made by a man named Ted Kaczynski using a new Chevy Silverado. Honestly, you couldn’t make it up. So it’s a good job we’ve got AI to do it for us.
Update: GM sent us a statement clarifying that these chatbots are third-party solutions independently adopted by some of its dealership partners:
“The recent advancements in generative AI are creating incredible opportunities to rethink business processes at GM, our dealer networks and beyond. We certainly appreciate how chatbots can offer answers that create interest when given a variety of prompts, but it’s also a good reminder of the importance of human intelligence and analysis with AI-generated content”.
