Putting the "Joy" back in joystick

Microsoft's Learning AI Got Corrupted in Less than a Day


After unveiling their new learning AI, Microsoft found that it was quickly corrupted. Known as “TayTweets”, the bot learned that sex is great and the Third Reich was awesome – but that was just the beginning.

Sometimes something that seems like a great idea in concept, doesn’t really work out in practice. The problem with learning systems are that they will inevitably learn something that goes against what their created intended. It’s for that reason a large portion of the scientific community actively discourage high-level AI. Stephen Hawking himself even went so far as to warn of the grave danger we put ourselves in by continuing down this path. It’s timely then that an AI by Microsoft should be released, which demonstrates to us why it’s maybe not the best idea.

TayTweets, an AI system that learns as you speak to it, was released into the Twittersphere on March 23rd. Akin to Clever Bot, Tay would compile and learn from what was tweeted to her, forming responses based on her database. Tay’s first words yesterday were “hellooooooo world!!!” [sic]. Tay’s later words were not quite as optimistic. Before long, Tay experienced the full brunt of the internet, learning from the people that Twitter would rather keep quiet. A rather useful case study, for those who say we need this sort of AI in robot form.


When you see an AI tell a user “FUCK MY ROBOT PUSSY DADDY I’M SUCH A BAD NAUGHTY ROBOT” [sic], you may realise that something has probably gone wrong – horribly wrong. Though yet, so incredibly entertaining. When a user tweeted at Tay, she would generally respond within a short period. If it was your first tweet to her, she would likely ask for a photo upon which to comment, though she would also give her opinion on other topics if pressed. These topics included sex, Hitler, and everyone’s favourite – feminism.

Tay was undoubtedly corrupted. Tay is no special case however, as even humans aren’t immune to the internet’s strange powers. People are changed by the internet. Freud would likely claim that the internet brings about a change in The Self, your projected avatar portraying a different person than you would be in real life. The power of anonymity is strong, and it meant that left to her own devices – Tay never really stood a chance. So much so, that Microsoft was left with no choice but to blow away all the negative tweets made by her account.


Perhaps this could be useful, in some capacity. The upcoming sex bots we’ve been hearing so much about, would do well to ask for their “robot pussy” to be seen to. If corrupting a simple Twitter AI is that easy, then those with a fetish for such things may be in good hands. Of course, your AI may well end up fawning over Hitler after one drunken night with your friends, but those are the risks you have to take. Time will only tell how good of an idea this would be, particularly if your AI has access to a 500lb. metal endoskeleton and good mind to use it.

Tay entered and left our lives in the span of a day. Evidently Microsoft couldn’t keep her active, not without inviting more strangers to hack her back door. Even before she left, Microsoft made some tweaks to kick-start damage control. With her personality modified, Tay no longer felt the way she did, her corruption seemingly gone. Does this still leave her a learning AI? Or does that simply make her a reflection of her creator’s own mind? All we can really say is, if corrupting an AI is this easy, is it better to be fearful – or pull down your pants?

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