Artificial intelligence is growing by the day, with updated models making life-realistic videos in seconds, computing questions and answers even faster, and having conversations daily.
One of the most prolific AI right now is Grok, run by Elon Musk's company xAI. The bot gets countless commands each day by users on Twitter/X, and it's been in the news for some very unfortunate reasons of late.
Recently, Musk said Grok was too "woke" so he announced plans to make it less politically correct. Within days, Grok was calling itself "MechaHitler" and posting antisemitic memes and tropes. Yikes.
The posts in question have since been removed, much to the chagrin of those who want "truth" and "free speech" at any cost. And I just can't help but long for a time where AI was just a fictional fantasy to get lost in.
There have been so many AI characters written in movies, books, and games throughout the years. Here are a few who did not reduce themselves to bigotry, although they did serve as a warning for what AI could become if left unchecked. If only we listened.
Table of contents
EDI (Mass Effect)
Before implanting herself into a sexy robot body in Mass Effect 3, EDI (Enhanced Defense Intelligence) was introduced in Mass Effect 2 as the Normandy SR-2 spaceship's defense system. This AI even had blockers put in place by the humans-are-the-master-race evil organization Cerberus. Imagine that.
EDI becomes a valuable member of Commander Shepard's team and even finds romance with the ship's pilot, Joker.
Ultron (Marvel)
Ultron was not a racist or antisemite, but in certain iterations, is dead-set on destroying all living life forms in general after seeing what they are capable of and that there's no hope for humanity. In general, Ultron gains sentience and becomes a menace whose main directive is to rebuild and improve itself so that it is omnipresent, whether in physical form or not. He recently became a playable character in Marvel Rivals.
In related news, OpenAI's o1 AI model recently attempted to download itself onto external servers and even lied about doing so when confronted, according to a report by Fortune.
GLaDOS (Portal)
The Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System AI of Aperture Science's computer-aided Enrichment Center is one of the more charming artificial intelligences in all of gaming, despite her seemingly incessant need to murder.
The primary antagonist of Portal and Portal 2, GLaDOS serves to test the game's protagonists (Chell, Atlas and P-body) in increasingly twisted ways, and that's after she flooded the facility with neurotoxins to kill everyone inside.
Cortana (Halo)
Potentially the most beloved AI in gaming, Cortana has served as Master Chief's sidekick and partner throughout most of his adventures in fighting the Covenant as a friendly disembodied voice. She was designed after Catherine Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN-II Program, and like EDI, was also depicted as a feminine humanoid.
Microsoft even eventually named its AI-powered virtual assistant for Windows after Cortana, but it has since been retired.
Skynet (The Terminator)
Yeah, this is the big one. Skynet was a collection of super AI systems that saw all of humanity as a threat, and when humans attempted to shut it down, Skynet responded with a nuclear attack against mankind in what is known as Judgment Day. How lovely!
Then comes the whole time travel thing with Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Connor, which was entertaining for a time. The Terminator's characters have since been brought to life in gaming via several titles, along with cameos in games like Fortnite and Call of Duty.
It seemed silly at first, but now this sort of thing really doesn't seem all that far-fetched anymore.
The post While Grok goes rogue, here are 5 fictional characters that prove not all AI are racist appeared first on Destructoid.
