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John's avatar

This is the most interesting column you've ever written, which is a huge compliment because you what you write is always interesting. What gave you the idea to engage in this inquiry? Its absolutely fascinating and I think that with your prodding Grok seems to have eventually come to the correct conclusion. A longstanding critique that I've had of leftist democrat policies is that their solution to every problem seems to be throwing more and more and more money at it. Rarely is money, alone, a solution to anything except filling the pockets of people who are utterly worthless at solving anything. This is a line of inquiry that I hope you and others continue to explore.

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Adam B. Coleman's avatar

If I'm honest, I was bored on my couch and the idea hit me. I've been actively using Grok for all types of things decided to engage it.

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John Klar's avatar

Terrific inquiry, Adam! I wonder if you "educated" grok for its future responses. :)

I'm writing a piece about the imploding LA school system -- I'm not sure the causes are political failures, but certainly what you found in Baltimore holds true -- more money does not yield improved results.....

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Alexander Scipio's avatar

I was an IBM Systems Engineer on the LAUSD account in the early 1990s. I’d be happy to chat about some of their idiocies if you’d like.

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Jake Wiskerchen's avatar

Yeah, it's not that they're racists. It's that they're psychopaths.

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James Allin's avatar

Something else more important to note is the lack of parental involvement at home. Education in the classroom doesn't matter if the parent(s) are dysfunctional or absent. Black teens with the highest relative performance also have a good parent(s) to support them.

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Adam B. Coleman's avatar

Absolutely.

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The Radical Individualist's avatar

I know progressives with exactly that attitude. They are sure that the only way for blacks to make it in "a white man's world' is for blacks to allow themselves to be subjugated by well meaning progressives. Progressives are racists, and don't even know it.

We should remember that the KKK was a lot like that.. KKK members could be very friendly and helpful to blacks, but only blacks who submitted to the two tier system. It was those "uppity n****s" who got lynched. "Uppity" meaning that they refused to accept white supremacy. Who are today's white supremacists? Progressives. They're sure they're better than anyone.

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ken terry's avatar

It is nice to think that some of the folks in charge read and react to this piece. But, this has been a problem in Baltimore and other cities for some time, so.... But, I'm much more hopeful regarding AI now. Thanks. I did not realize the learning curve for Ai was so steep.

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John's avatar

Sorry, one other thought about this...one of the reasons that you were able to persuade Grok to rethink it's position was that you used logic, facts and sound reasoning. One of the reasons that Grok changed it's initial position is that Grok listened to and applied logic, facts and sound reasoning to the position that it took prior to your "discussion" with it. That differentiates Grok from many humans, particularly on the democrat party left, who consistently use "emotional reaction" rather than logic, facts and reason to evaluate policies and positions on issues. I know that's a stereotype about the left, but I've found it universally true in my personal experiences in over 65 years of talking to democrat leftists about issues. The ability of Grok to re-evaluate it's position and engage in sound reasoning based on logic and established facts differentiates it from most people on the democrat left. That doesn't mean that people on other sides of the political spectrum don't engage in emotional "reasoning," but it seems to be the predominant way of "thinking" from people on the left.

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Stefan Grossman's avatar

Thank you for a wonderful article! If, as I’m told, AI “learns” from interactions, perhaps it will improve based on your questions, but I doubt it. The great Walter Williams used to say that the KKK couldn’t design anything better to hinder blacks than the public school system!

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Nathan's avatar

I don't think AI chats improve themselves based on user interactions. That said, I still argue with them in the vain hope they might listen.

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Scott Wayland's avatar

Well done! Now do homeless aid. Lol. Same situation.

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Alexander Scipio's avatar

The idea that it would be racist to hold that black people are intellectually inferior is, of course, the opposite of the truth.

The average IQ of Subsaharan Africans is 70; half are below that.

What’s racist is to deny this fact because of their race. It’s stupid, malevolent, and harmful to everyone in all races to lie about capabilities just to virtue signal.

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Nathan's avatar

Bell curve is real.

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Alexander Scipio's avatar

Yup

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Elizabeth's avatar

Very interesting exercise. I wonder what the response would be if Grok was asked how affirmative action would be addressed in countries influenced by a Islamic or Confucianist framework. Is the Judeo-Christian notion of guilt essential for affirmative action? From what little I have picked up about Marxism and its child Cultural Marxism, its foundation seems deeply rooted in the Western ethics which in turn is rooted in Christianity and Judaism.

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