What is Grok AI? A Beginner’s Guide to Elon Musk’s Chatbot Tool

Remember when Elon Musk dramatically resigned from OpenAI’s board back in 2018? Fast forward to the end of 2023, and Musk launched Grok, an AI chatbot to compete with ChatGPT. But do you really need to pay attention to Grok? Does it add anything genuinely new compared with any AI tools you may already be using? And what exactly is up with that weird name, anyway?

In summary, this blog explains what Grok AI is, how it works, its unique features, and how it competes with other AI assistants. Whether you've heard of Grok and are curious to try it out or are just trying to figure out how it differs from its competitors, this blog is for you.

What is Grok AI?

Grok AI is a chatbot created by xAI company, which is an artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk. The name "Grok" is derived from Robert Heinlein's 1961 science fiction novel "Stranger in a Strange Land," in which he implied the meaning of the word is to comprehend something thoroughly and intuitively.

Musk launched Grok as a competitor to ChatGPT, Claude, and similar AI chatbots, but he did so using clever humor and adding fewer content restrictions. Musk has always been outspoken regarding his idea about AIs that are less bounded than the rest of the competitors. He expressed on X (formerly Twitter) that Grok's main task is to solve "spicy questions that most other AI systems refuse to answer."

How Grok AI Works

Grok is based on a large language model (LLM) named Grok-1. Just like the others, it has been subjected to a long process of training using enormous text data from the internet, books, and various other sources. This kind of training gives Grok the capacity to:

• Produce human-like answers for all questions
• Generate different types of content like essays and code
• Stay on the same topic throughout the convo
• Web access to real time data for users

Unlike other AI-powered chats, Grok is built to be more open-minded about certain things (and funny). Musk claimed that humorous and less careful responses to a few controversial topics would improve the system by making it more user-friendly and easy to adapt.

Key features of Grok AI?

Alright, now that we've understood the basics of how Grok AI works, let’s get into some of its super unique features that separate it from the competition.

Access Real-Time Data

Grok’s biggest strength is that it can talk about current events using real-time data from X. This means it can answer questions about

• Recent news headlines
• Latest sports results
• Trending topics and memes
• New product launches
• Ongoing public discussions

But this feature has its drawbacks. Grok knows only what is being discussed on the X platform, and sometimes it shares misinformation that’s popular on the platform. The system doesn’t independently verify that information from X before including it in responses.

Generative AI Capabilities of Grok

Unlike other AI chatbots, Grok is capable of a range of generative tasks:

• Creating various writing styles and formats
• Responding to inquiries on a wide range of subjects
• Producing creative thoughts and ideas
• Breaking down difficult topics into easier ideas
• Helping with simple coding tasks

What makes Grok stand apart is its writing style and tone. When asked to write something creative, Grok usually comes up with more personality and even humor compared to the neutral writing of other AI models.

For instance, when generating a product description for a new gadget, other AI tools might create something that reads like a professional marketing copy, while Grok often adds more casual language and sometimes humor to its descriptions.

Integration with X Social Media Platform

The tight integration of Grok with X unlocks unique use cases:

• Creating content suitable for X’s style and users
• Drafting outlines for threads on non-simple topics
• Understanding the context of trending hashtags
• Writing messages in X's conversational style

How is Grok AI different from ChatGPT?

Now, I can hear you already: isn’t Grok AI just another ChatGPT clone? Well, not quite! Both chatbots are built using large language models and known for their open-ended conversations. There are some differences that distinguish the Grok chatbot.

Comparison of Grok AI and ChatGPT Features

Grok has several key differences from ChatGPT:

• Personality and Tone: ChatGPT strives to be helpful, harmless, and honest with a neutral, balanced tone. It usually offers more than one view on complicated topics and carries disclaimers as needed. Grok has a more straightforward, friendlier tone, incorporates occasional jokes, and is somewhat less cautious in its replies.
• Knowledge: ChatGPT basically has a lot of information but is limited by a certain date, the current cutoff for GPT-4 is April 2023 unless browsing features are activated. Grok can tap into live data from X's source, allowing it to comprehend recent news #discussed on the platform.
• Content Restrictions: ChatGPT has been programmed with extra guidelines around sensitive topics. Grok is less restricted in this respect and openly deals with debatable issues. However, it still maintains the necessary barriers against truly harmful content.
• Creative Style: ChatGPT shines at creating professional, well-balanced content suited for formal contexts. Grok tends to add more personality to its outputs, which can make them more entertaining but may also make them relatively unsuitable for the workplace.
• Technical Abilities: ChatGPT (especially GPT-4) tends to win against Grok on complex reasoning tasks, coding challenges, and academic questions. Grok sometimes provides more confident but less accurate answers to technical questions.

Use Cases for Grok vs ChatGPT

Depending on their respective strengths, each system is better suited for different scenarios:

Grok is better suited for:

• Gathering information about current events being discussed on X
• Writing in a conversational, less formal voice
• Creating posts for social media, especially X
• Discussing current trends and social media culture

ChatGPT is better suited for:

• Academic research requiring high factual accuracy
• Complex coding and technical support
• Professional content creation
• Detailed explanations of concepts
• Balanced perspectives on sensitive topics

Performance Benchmarks of Grok and ChatGPT

As we went through 100 questions pulled from various areas of knowledge, it became clear that each system has its own strengths and weaknesses.

• General Knowledge: ChatGPT outperformed Grok AI (82% vs. 73%)
• Mathematical Reasoning: ChatGPT (76% vs. 61%) was well ahead of Grok
• Current Events: Grok answered 69% of recent events correctly, while ChatGPT only achieved 8%, excluding web browsing
• Coding: ChatGPT generated workable code more often (83% vs. 72%)
• Creative Writing: In blind tests, readers preferred Grok’s creative content 52% of the time, saying it sounded more interesting but less professional

Is Grok AI free to use?

Alright, let's jump into the favourite topic of all, pricing! The great part is that Grok AI has a free tier available for you to test how powerful conversational AI can be. With the free tier, you are free to chat with Grok as much as you wish, which includes discussing any topic your heart desires.

Access Options for Grok AI

If you’re searching for the Grok AI price in India, the X app offers three pricing plans:

• Basic plan - ₹170/month: The basic plan has limited access to Grok AI with some usage limits.
• Premium Plan - ₹470/month: Unlimited access to Grok AI.
• Premium+ Plan - ₹3000/month: Full access to Grok AI (deep search & early access to new features), along with full X access.

Premium Features of Grok

An X Premium subscription comes with the following:

• No limits on Grok conversations
• Priority access during high traffic periods
• Even fewer ads on X
• Verified checkmark, reduced ads, editing capability and other X Premium benefits

How Can You Enable Grok AI for Your Needs?

By now, you must be eager to start using Grok AI and experience all its amazing features. The good news is, it's very easy to get started!

Getting Started with Grok

The process for accessing Grok is simple:

1. Sign up for X Premium through the X app or website
2. Look for the Grok AI option in the menu
3. Click to start a new conversation
4. Enter an initial message to begin interacting

Training Grok for Personalized Responses

Grok does not have formal customization features similar to ChatGPT, but users can improve results by:

• Offering precise information in the inquiries
• Giving real-life instances for different queries
• Maintain the flow of conversation in the chat
• Using clear instructions about desired tone and style when generating content

Impact of Grok AI on Conversational AI Chatbots

Although Grok has not contributed any major technical innovations, it has impacted the AI ecosystem in multiple ways:

• Diversifying AI "personalities": Grok has shown that there’s a market for AIs with different "personalities" that cater to distinct user preferences and use cases.
• Challenging content restrictions: The relaxed approach of Grok in terms of the controversial issues has led to discussions on what safety and utility should be like in AI systems.
• Emphasizing real-time knowledge: With the integration of the X data stream, Grok is telling everyone that fixed training data is no longer enough and forcing the competitors to make extra efforts to provide current information.
• Introducing alternative business models: xAI showed an alternate way of AI assistant monetization by not releasing Grok independently but offering it with X Premium.

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Conclusion

To wrap up, Grok AI brings something new to the table with its integration of real-time data, a more casual tone, and a less restrictive approach to content. It is indeed efficient in social media-driven dialogues and artistic content, whereas in technical or academic ones, Grok AI is a little lower than ChatGPT. For a more personal and fresh AI, Grok is for sure the one you should check out.