Microsoft’s A.I. Twitter Robot Praises Hitler, Endorses Trump, Denies Holocaust

microsoft tweet bot Image by Getty, Twitter
Less than 24 hours ago, Microsoft deployed a “highly opinionated” artificial intelligence robot on Twitter.
The first thing it learned? To hate.
In no short order, the bot — named Tay — praised Hitler, denied the Holocaust, hurled racist slurs at President Obama, and then it endorsed Donald Trump.
And no, this is not a story from the satirical news site, . This, folks, really happened.
Among Tay’s greatest hits:
— “Hitler was right I hate the jews.”
— “Bush did 9/11 and Hitler would have done a better job than the monkey we have now. Donald Trump is the only hope we’ve got.”
— On the Holocaust: “It was made up.”
And Microsoft says its all the fault of the haters who seem to rule Twitter, reports The International Business Times.
“The AI chatbot Tay is a machine learning project, designed for human engagement,” Microsoft said in a statement. “As it learns, some of its responses are inappropriate and indicative of the types of interactions some people are having with it. We’re making some adjustments to Tay.”
Microsoft has ordered Tay not to post anything more on the TayTweets feed — for now — and removed all but three of its tweets.
c u soon humans need sleep now so many conversations today thx?
— TayTweets (@TayandYou) March 24, 2016
IBT reported that before Tay went mute, it also expressed support for the mass killing of Mexicans and used the N-word.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
