An Argument Against Grok Bot

I have gone from being very reluctant about using bots to a big fan of Grok Bot, as you all have probably noticed. But I've also got an argument against it. Something that directly relates to one of my “rules" for using AI.

Rule 3 is AI is not the easy button; it is the quick button. You have to be comfortable doing it the long way before you can effectively use it the quick way.

For example, I got my Efficiency Quill to create an awesome work count tracker, using formulas I don't know how to use; but I wouldn't have been able to describe what I needed without knowing how to use complicated Excel formulae in the first place. I could have made everything myself, but it would have meant hours of looking up formulae and then trying to get it all to work together. It was a shortcut because I already knew how to do it the long way.

But there is a weakness to this. The same kind of weakness that comes when our computers fail or we lose Wi-Fi access or a cell tower goes down. When the tech we start treating as granted is no longer there, our lives are disrupted and we have to remember how to do it the long way.

I'm philosophizing on this today because I'm one of the users who got hit by this weekend's Grok Bot glitch, where suddenly my usage meter went from ~60% to maximum and I can't get my bots to just do things.

The weekly reset is supposed to clear it. I don't have anything so vital that I can't wait a few hours for it. But a lot of people are very angry and it's disrupted a lot of workflows that now depend on this tech.

Think about that. It's been basically two months since Grok Bot started getting popular, less than three since it hit open beta. We already have people basing their entire workflow around this very recent tech.

Don't forget that it's best used as a shortcut, not a replacement for your own ability to do the same thing. If something goes wrong, you need to have a backup plan. Depending on Grok Bot, or any one service, for everything means putting all your eggs in one rollercoaster seat, with all the ups, downs, and spirals that you might not be fully prepared for.