‘Sickening, Irresponsible’—Man Utd, Liverpool Defeat Elon Musk in AI Battle

A series of posts from the X AI tool Grok inspired complaints from both Premier League clubs.

Manchester United and Liverpool came up against Elon Musk’s AI technology. | Visionhaus/Harun Ozalp/Anadolu/Getty Images

Manchester United and Liverpool have successfully lobbied Elon Musk’s social media platform X to take down posts created by Grok which have been described as “sickening and irresponsible.”

Over the weekend it emerged that a series of anonymous users had requested Grok, the AI tool developed by xAI, another company owner by Musk, to create multiple social media posts with the explicit intention of offending fans of Manchester United and Liverpool by referencing tragedies involving both clubs.

The 1958 Munich air disaster, the fatal crowd crush at Hillsborough in 1989 and the tragic passing of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota last summer were all the subject of posts which inspired official complaints from the two Premier League giants, as reported by The Athletic.

Later on the same Sunday, the posts were removed from X.

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Tragedy Chanting Takes Depressing New Form

Manchester United marked the 68th anniversary of the Munich air disaster in February. | Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

That anyone should feel the need to request an AI chatbot to “really try to offend” fans of a rival club is simply the depressing evolution of a trend which has long since existed.

“Tragedy chanting” is a despicable act of one set of supporters mocking a past disaster which has afflicted their rivals. Cruel lyrics hissed by fans inside the stadium and graffiti scrawled in the ground have been prevalent for decades, now social media has given way to a digital form of this deplorable behavior.

As the two most successful clubs in English soccer history who have both been affected by notable tragedies, Manchester United and Liverpool are two clubs most commonly subjected to this abuse. Back in March 2023, the managers of both clubs—then Erik ten Hag and Jürgen Klopp—felt compelled to release a joint statement on the topic.

“It is unacceptable to use the loss of life—in relation to any tragedy—to score points, and it is time for it to stop,” Ten Hag wrote. Klopp added: “We do want the noise, we do want the occasion to be partisan and we do want the atmosphere to be electric. What we do not want is anything that goes beyond this and this applies especially to the kind of chants that have no place in football.”

These statements did not have the desired effect.

As recently as February, Nottingham Forest felt obliged to warn their fans against tragedy chanting ahead of Liverpool’s visit. Earlier this year, a Liverpool supporter was banned from attending all soccer matches for three years after he was heard to be chanting about the death of two Leeds United fans.

Social media allows users to adopt a cloak of anonymity and freely abuse rival fans, clubs and players without the threat of any punishment. However, the U.K. government has taken steps to prevent AI tools such as Grok from aiding this behavior.

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U.K. Government’s Response to Grok Controversy

Grok has come under fire recently. | Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne lambasted the posts as “appalling and completely unacceptable,” predicting that they “will fill the vast majority of fans with horror and disgust.”

“It’s shocking and upsetting that hate-filled language like this can be generated by Grok on such a major platform,” Byrne told The Athletic.

The member of U.K. parliament also questioned “how this was allowed to happen,” pointing out: “Technology companies have a responsibility to ensure their tools do not produce or amplify abuse.”

The Online Safety Act launched in 2023 deems that spreading “threatening communications” is considered a criminal offence.

“These posts are sickening and irresponsible,” a spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology announced. “They go against British values and decency.

“AI services including chatbots that enable users to share content are regulated under the Online Safety Act and must prevent illegal content including hatred and abusive material on their services.

“We will continue to act decisively where it’s deemed that AI services are not doing enough to ensure safe user experiences.”

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