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Grok AI is an exciting new AI chatbot recently launched by X, the company formerly known as Twitter. Grok aims to compete with ChatGPT and other major language models by letting users have natural conversations and ask questions about current events and topics popular on the X platform.
The main difference between Grok is that it is specifically trained on billions of X-tweets and has access to real-time data from the platform. This allows it to provide very timely and relevant answers based on what is currently trending and being discussed.
While Grok is currently only available to X Premium+ subscribers in the US, there are ways for international users outside the US to access this powerful new AI chatbot. This article covers everything you need to know, including:
- An overview of the key features and capabilities of Grok AI
- Instructions for accessing Grok from outside the US
- A walkthrough of the Grok user experience
- Tips to get the most out of conversations with Grok
- A comparison with other AI chatbots such as ChatGPT
- My own commentary as a tech writer tests Grok’s capabilities
Let’s start!
What is Grok AI
Grok AI represents an evolution of AI chatbots by combining the capabilities of large language models with real-time trend data. Here are some of the key things users can expect from Grok:
- Summarize trending news and events: Grok tracks the latest trends on X in real time and can provide summaries and reference tweets to provide context.
- Natural conversations: Like other LLMs, Grok allows for free-flowing dialogue without the need for rigid prompts or keywords.
- Access to real-time X data: Grok uniquely accesses live data from billions of public X-tweets to make its responses more timely and relevant.
- Fun and regular modes: Users can choose between a fun, entertaining personality or a more serious tone.
- Give feedback: Grok allows users to provide feedback and improve responses over time.
- Share conversations: Interesting Grok chats can be easily shared, similar to ChatGPT.
See more: Where is Grok AI available?
With these options in mind, let’s take a look at how you can access Grok if you’re outside the US.
How to Access Grok AI from Outside the US
Since Grok is currently limited to US-based X Premium+ subscribers, international users will have to use a VPN service to access the chatbot. Here are step-by-step instructions:
- Sign up for a premium VPN service. Choose a reputable paid VPN that allows you to select US-based servers. Some top options include ExpressVPN, NordVPN, or Surfshark.
- Connect to a US VPN server. Once you sign up, start your VPN service and connect to a server in the United States. This makes it appear as if you are connecting to the Internet from the US.
- Access your X Premium+ account. You can now access your X account as normal. Grok is enabled if you have a Premium+ subscription.
- Find the Grok tab. On your desktop you will see a Grok tab next to Home and Explore. On mobile you can access this via the side menu. Here you can start chatting!
And that’s it! As long as your VPN connection remains active, you can chat with Grok AI as if you were in the US.
Using Grok AI: Key Features and User Experience
Interacting with Grok AI is very similar to ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, with some unique capabilities thanks to the real-time X integration. Here are the top things you can do with Grok, along with my own first user impressions:
Summarize trending news
- The Experience: Grok does a great job of staying on top of the latest trends in news, entertainment, sports, and more. The summaries are concise and also include relevant sample tweets.
- My take: I asked about both important global news and a niche entertainment trend. Grok provided accurate summaries and the reference tweets provided useful context.
Ask questions and have dialogues
- The experience: Conversing with Grok feels much more natural than rigid, prompt-based chatbots. It understands the context well when asking follow-up questions.
- My take: I challenged Grok on some complex issues surrounding AI ethics and moderation. While not perfect, it handled nuances better than expected.
Access to real-time perspective
- The Experience: With access to live X data, Grok’s answers feel very timely and relevant, although quality still varies.
- My take: Even around fast-changing topics like AI itself, Grok could intelligently integrate the latest discourses from dignitaries.
Fun mode for entertainment
- The Experience: Enabling Fun Mode makes Grok much more casual, playful and entertaining with his reactions, sometimes at the expense of depth.
- My thoughts: I appreciated the change of pace. We talked about the pros and cons of different social networks before it started roasting me for my X-posts!
Provide feedback to improve Grok
- The Experience: The ability to increase responses and provide written feedback for improvements is a key feature missing from competitors.
- My take: I’ve highlighted several weaker areas that need tweaking. Being allowed to supervise the training seems promising.
Based on my early hands-on experience, Grok AI represents a major step forward for AI chatbots, at least for X-power users. Below I provide a more detailed comparison with alternatives.
How Grok compares to other AI chatbots
While the underlying large language model powering Grok likely shares many similarities with systems like ChatGPT, the real-time X integration makes a big difference in call quality and usability.
Here’s a high-level comparison based on some key criteria:
| Criteria | Grok | ChatGPT | Other X bots |
| Access to real-time data | Excellent | No | Moderate |
| Conversational context | Very good | Moderate | Arm |
| Timeliness of responses | Excellent | Arm | Moderate |
| Ability to improve/train | Excellent | No | No |
| Personality and humor | Very good | Arm | Moderate |
As seen above, Grok significantly outperforms the competition when it comes to leveraging timely, real-world information to improve response relevance. ChatGPT’s knowledge limitation in 2021 really hinders its ability to help analyze today’s latest news or trends.
Grok is also unique in that through feedback, regular users can help shape their knowledge and training for the better over time. This is a big advantage that other bots miss.
That said, Grok sometimes struggles with the quality and consistency of the response, likely due to the speed at which information on X changes. And its personality, while refreshing, may not suit more serious professional use cases. But because he stays on top of a fire hose like X, Grok shines brightly.
Conclusion and predictions
Finally, access to X’s new Grok AI chatbot gives international users a compelling reason to subscribe to X Premium+ and use a high-quality VPN service. Grok changes the game for real-time news and analysis, as well as fun conversations.
As Grok receives more feedback and training data in the coming months, I predict its usability will only continue to improve. And I wouldn’t be surprised if X eventually expands availability beyond the US to other global markets that are willing to pay.
I suspect Grok will also raise new questions around the ethics and moderation of AI as it grapples with the flood of misinformation that can spread virally in real time on X. But for now, it’s an exciting opening chapter in the story of industry-specific chatbots.
So fire up your VPN and chat with @Grok to see for yourself! Beware of fry mode if you dare invoke Fun Personality – no one’s tweets are safe!
🌟Do you have burning questions about Grok AI? Do you need some extra help with AI tools or something else?
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