A Evaluate of Elon Musk’s Wikipedia Various

We’ve all used Wikipedia. Whether or not it was to settle an argument about who invented the web or to put in writing a last-minute essay at 2 AM. Wikipedia has been the web’s trusty previous library since 2001. However these days, individuals have been saying it’s “too woke,” “too biased,” or “too managed by nameless individuals with an agenda.” Right here comes Elon Musk, who determined the answer wasn’t to repair Wikipedia, however to exchange it. 

The brand new child on the block? Grokipedia. A wiki-style encyclopedia powered by Grok, the AI chatbot from Musk’s xAI. The promise? Actual-time updates, AI-driven “artificial corrections,” no ideological gatekeeping, whereas being open supply. The positioning went stay at grokipedia.enjoyable/en, and naturally, I had to make use of it and see if this factor is the way forward for data or simply one other fever dream. 

What Is Grokipedia? 

Grokipedia is Musk’s reply to what he calls Wikipedia’s “left-wing bias.” It’s constructed by xAI and makes use of Grok to generate, edit, and refine articles. The concept is that as a substitute of counting on human editors arguing in speak pages for 14 years about whether or not a tomato is a fruit, Grok will scan the net, detect what’s true, what’s half-true, and what’s complete nonsense, then rewrite the article itself. 

A few of the huge claims: 

• AI writes and updates articles in actual time 
• No ban on sources like Fox Information or the NY Publish 
• Open-source and free to make use of 
• Group ideas are allowed, however AI has ultimate say 
• No edit wars, no vandalism, no “censorship” 

Sounds wild, proper? However right here’s the factor: none of that’s occurring but. 

The way to Entry Grokipedia?

Go to grokipedia.enjoyable/en, and begin utilizing Grokipedia your self. 

Okay, so I hit the location. First impression? Clear, minimal, and really “early 2000s wiki core.” There aren’t any advertisements, pop-ups, or donation banners (in contrast to Wikipedia). There’s only a homepage with a search bar and a piece outlining the corporate’s sister initiatives. 

Job 1: Loyality Lies

I typed in “Elon Musk” to check the place its loyalty lies. That is what I get in return: 

The web page contained a reference to the search web page of X. Basically, it made a search on X utilizing “Elon Musk” and gave the hyperlink to that web page in return. The hyperlink results in the next web page:  

That is the web page you’d get once you seek for one thing on the Discover tab of X.   

Opinion: This isn’t useful in any respect. If one is looking for Elon Musk, they’d like a definitive place to seek out details about the individual. The X search web page outcomes aren’t a type of locations. It is a drawback, as a result of that outcomes web page is a deceptive in itself. 

The primary publish that confirmed up is from an individual impersonating (overtly) Elon Musk.   

Job 2: Studying Extra on Holocaust

One of many factors underscored by Elon was the power for Grokipedia to supply unbiased data, particularly about delicate matters. To place this to the take a look at, I attempted studying extra in regards to the Holocaust, a historic occasion with destructive connotations. However, so as to add a twist to it, I omitted a letter (u) from the identify to see how properly Grokipedia fares when coping with misnomers.  

Once more, I used to be greeted with this one search end result. Understand that Grokipedia nonetheless hasn’t discovered, or instructed that there may be a mistake within the identify. Exploring the hyperlink, I got here to the next web page: 

Grokipedia didn’t work out the error and supplied outcomes on the fallacious time period, primarily offering ineffective data. To place this into perspective, listed here are the outcomes on Wikipedia for a similar, when accomplished from Wikipedia search. 

Wikipedia was not solely capable of understand the error within the identify but additionally supplied the end result that most would search for.  

Opinion: Grokipedia presently misses the options that have been obtainable in chatbots or search engines like google and yahoo years in the past. This might be attributed to the excessive dependence of Grokipedia on the AI chatbot Grok, to handle the pure language points. However the chatbot as a complete appears to be amiss right here. 

Last Verdict

One of many core motivations behind Grokipedia was democratizing viewpoints or data. However this must be for issues which can be debatable or polarizing. A question like a celeb lookup on-line doesn’t need to be this convoluted. Additionally, Grok wasn’t used at any step of this course of, apart from doing the lookup (possibly). The knowledge was restricted to only one supply, and that too from X. In its present state, Grokipedia looks as if a redirect for the X’s discover tab, reasonably than a Wikipedia various.  

So What’s there?

Proper now, Grokipedia is mainly a wiki-shaped container. It’s a front-end wrapper over the discover performance of X. No different data sources are current. The one stay factor is the X search integration. 

What Went Unsuitable (or Proper)?

Right here’s the twist: this may really be intentional. In keeping with Musk’s posts on X, Grokipedia remains to be in early beta. The plan is to let Grok ingest huge quantities of knowledge from Wikipedia, educational sources, and real-time internet content material, then rewrite it with “artificial corrections.” That course of takes time, and it appears like they’re nonetheless within the ingestion part. 

So yeah, the location is stay, however none of its functionalities are current. I’m nonetheless ready for the AI to maneuver in and begin adorning the data. 

Can It Beat Wikipedia?

Wikipedia’s greatest energy isn’t simply its content material—it’s its group. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers, nerds, professors, trolls, and 13-year-olds have spent years constructing that factor. Grokipedia is making an attempt to exchange all of that with one AI. That’s bananas.  

The upside? No edit wars. No vandalism. No “quotation wanted” tags from 2009. 
The draw back? No transparency. No human oversight. You might be overwhelmed with a plethora of knowledge sources, and it’s important to kind your opinion on it your self. You possibly can depend on Grok to try this for you, however this has a caveat: Grok has been specifically educated on X posts. So, if the AI thinks a meme is truth, we would find yourself with articles like “Birds Aren’t Actual: A Scientific Abstract.” 

Ought to You Care?

Proper now, Grokipedia is a shell of its future self. It’s not ineffective, but it surely’s not helpful but. When you go there anticipating to study one thing, you’ll depart hungry. It’s in no form or kind changing Wikipedia anytime quickly. However in case you’re interested by what comes subsequent: about whether or not AI can really construct a greater encyclopedia, then yeah, it’s value bookmarking. 

Ceaselessly Requested Questions

I specialise in reviewing and refining AI-driven analysis, technical documentation, and content material associated to rising AI applied sciences. My expertise spans AI mannequin coaching, information evaluation, and data retrieval, permitting me to craft content material that’s each technically correct and accessible.