I noticed that Elon Musk’s AI, Grok, was becoming popular, so I decided to ask it a “softball” question and compare its responses with those of other AIs.
Having studied my distant cousin’s genealogy, I knew the answer to the “softball” question, “Which member of Elon Musk’s family was Elon named after?”
You would assume that Elon Musk’s AI would know the answer.
Surprise… The Grok AI was dead wrong. It’s response was on its face…moronic.
The Chat GPT response was incomplete. It gave us the origin of his middle name but not his first name.
Microsoft’s Copilot and Perplexity responses were more in line with my research. Elon’s great-grandfather, John Elon Haldeman, was a schoolteacher on his mother’s side, and he died young in Canada. His third great-grandfather, also on his mother’s paternal side, was Elon Powers.
The best answer came from Microsoft Copilot because it is more reasonable to assume that the more recent ancestor would be the object of his mother’s affection. Also, Perplexity incorrectly called Elon Powers his mother’s grandfather, instead of the correct third great-grandfather.
Here are the AI responses:
Which member of Elon Musk’s family was Elon named after?
Grok Answer:
Elon Musk was named after his maternal great-grandfather, Joshua Norman Haldeman, who had the middle name “Elon.”
Chat GPT Answer:
Elon Musk was not named after any specific member of his family. According to Musk, his first name, Elon, was chosen by his mother, Maye Musk. She simply liked the name and thought it had a nice ring to it. There’s no direct connection to any particular relative. Musk’s middle name is Reeve, which was inspired by actor Christopher Reeve, known for playing Superman, as Musk admired his work.
Copilot Answer:
Elon Musk was named after his maternal great-grandfather, John Elon Haldeman. The name “Elon” is of Hebrew origin and means “oak tree.” Musk’s great-grandfather was a school superintendent and part-time sheriff in Minnesota.
Perplexity Answer:
Elon Musk was named after his mother’s grandfather, Elon Powers. His middle name, Reeve, comes from his maternal grandmother. It was initially considered that he be named “Nice,” after the city in France where he was conceived. His father, Errol Musk, liked the name Elon because of its biblical links and its reference to the elected leaders of Mars in a science-fiction book by rocket scientist Werner von Braun.
The lesson learned is that AIs may respond with authoritative answers but are often entirely wrong. AIs parallel authoritative podcasts, speeches, sermons, and blogs. Their message might reinforce our confirmation biases and appear “correct,” but like a clever huckster, AIs can just make stuff up.