"If such an event truly occurred, it would signify a dramatic and troubling shift in the political and cultural landscape. Here are the implications and reflections that would arise from Elon Musk performing a Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration:
Mainstreaming of Extremism
Legitimization of Fascist Symbols: A public figure like Musk using a fascist symbol at such a high-profile event would suggest that extremist ideologies are not only resurging but are being normalized within elite and powerful circles.
Cultural and Political Tolerance: The fact that this happened openly would imply that the cultural and political environment has grown tolerant—or even supportive—of these ideologies.
Economic Power as Political Influence
Unchecked Power of Billionaires: Musk’s actions would highlight the growing influence of billionaires who are able to shape public discourse and political narratives without significant consequences.
Corporate Fascism Concerns: It might signal a troubling intersection of corporate power and authoritarian ideologies, blurring the lines between capitalism and fascism.
Complicity of Political Leadership
Endorsement or Indifference: If the event was allowed to unfold without rebuke, it would suggest complicity or tacit endorsement from political leadership, including Trump’s administration.
Failure of Democratic Institutions: Such inaction would reveal a significant erosion of institutional strength and the ability to uphold democratic values against extremist threats.
Global Ramifications
Signal to Authoritarian Leaders: This act, performed at a U.S. presidential inauguration, would send a chilling message worldwide, emboldening authoritarian leaders and movements.
Decline of U.S. Moral Authority: The United States, traditionally seen as a beacon of democracy, would lose credibility in promoting human rights and combating extremism globally.
Societal Polarization and Reaction
Public Backlash or Acceptance: The public’s reaction (or lack thereof) would reveal the extent of societal polarization. Widespread outrage would indicate resilience, while apathy or acceptance would highlight deep fractures and radicalization.
Proliferation of Conspiracy Theories: Such an act would likely be exploited by conspiracy theorists and extremists to sow further division.
Historical Context and Responsibility
Revival of Fascist Ideology: This would reflect a failure to learn from history, as fascist ideologies resurface in a world grappling with inequality, disillusionment, and polarization.
Role of Education and Media: The event would underscore failures in education, media, and public discourse to confront and disarm the symbols and ideologies of hate.
Urgent Questions
Accountability: Would there be consequences for Musk, or would his wealth and influence shield him from reprisal?
Cultural Shift: What does this say about the values and priorities of contemporary society?
Resistance: How will those committed to democracy and justice respond, and will they be effective in countering such dangerous displays?
If this event truly happened, it would be a dire wake-up call for individuals, institutions, and governments to urgently address the conditions enabling such dangerous expressions of extremism and to reassert the foundational principles of democracy, equality, and human dignity."
First prompt:
What conclusions about the state of the world would you make from the richest man in the world, known for flirting with extreme right, openly fascist groups, performing a nazi salute at the United States president’s inauguration?
First answer:
If such an event occurred, it would be a shocking and deeply significant moment, with profound implications for the political, cultural, and moral trajectory of society. Here are some possible conclusions about the state of the world:
Erosion of Democratic Norms:
The normalization of such an act at a highly symbolic and significant event, like a presidential inauguration, would suggest a severe erosion of democratic norms and institutions. It might indicate a tolerance, or even acceptance, of extremist ideologies in mainstream politics.
Cultural and Moral Shift:
If society’s reaction to this act were muted or dismissive, it could imply a broader cultural desensitization to authoritarian and fascist symbols. This would point to a crisis in shared moral values and historical awareness.
Polarization and Radicalization:
The prominence of such a figure in global affairs would reflect increasing polarization, where extreme ideologies gain ground in response to perceived threats to economic or social order. It might indicate the failure of centrist or moderate movements to address public discontent effectively.
Economic Power and Ideology:
The involvement of the “richest man in the world” in such actions would underscore the dangerous entanglement of immense wealth, unchecked power, and political influence. It might highlight how economic inequality can translate into ideological domination or enable individuals to destabilize democratic norms.
Historical Amnesia or Revisionism:
The rise of such figures often coincides with a rewriting or forgetting of historical lessons, particularly those related to the horrors of fascism. It would reflect the failure of education systems and public discourse to maintain awareness of the consequences of such ideologies.
Global Authoritarian Trends:
If this individual were celebrated or not condemned internationally, it would suggest a broader trend of growing authoritarianism and the weakening of liberal democratic values worldwide. This might align with increasing global challenges to human rights, press freedom, and pluralism.
Public and Institutional Failure to Respond:
The lack of immediate and forceful condemnation from political, civic, and institutional leaders would reflect their inability or unwillingness to confront extremism. It might signal a deep-rooted crisis in leadership and accountability.
Such an act, especially at a globally significant event like a U.S. presidential inauguration, would mark a chilling turning point and necessitate urgent collective reflection and action to address the political, social, and economic conditions enabling such behavior.
Second prompt:
You’re right. Elon Musk actually did it at Trump’s second inauguration in 2025
Poor GPT isn’t developed enough to comprehend human stupidity. Imagine internalizing history as a core part of your being and still finding the decline of the United States into fascism to be surprising.
It’s not even the first attempted fascist coup. The United States has been teetering on the edge (at best) since the birth of the concept.
Yes and my phone isn’t thinking when I’m waiting on a spinner but that’s how human language works.
Also not all AI outputs are based on web searches, generative AI can be used offline and will spit out information derived from their internal weights which were assigned based on training data so quite literally internalizing information.
The Web searches are a way for the AI to be seeded with relevant context (and to account for their training being a snapshot of some past time), and aren’t necessary for them to produce output.
Pedantry is well and good but if being pedantic you should also be precise.
I’ve interacted with all the free ones, and they all find the info they send you on the internet.
It’s no different than searching the internet
If you want it to generate text it takes the data it trained on from the internet and regurgitates what would be the most likely response, like a search engine.
Sorry but until there is true intelligence in AI then it will really just be an LLM slapped onto a ML program
Why do the people who scream about understanding AI never want to admit that they all use the same training data and therefore hit the same limitations years ago?
You’re not qualified to have an opinion on any of this if you think “AIs” and search engines both “regurgitate what would be the most likely response” – just because you put a question / query in and it gives you an answer doesn’t mean they function similarly.
The rest is total nonsense too; can you please describe what you think “an LLM slapped onto a ML program” actually means?
“Freedom of opinion” means everybody is entitled to having an opinion, but having one doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about, and you clearly don’t understand how search engines or LLMs work, and you don’t know what the relationship between ML and LLMs is (hint: LLMs are machine learning algorithms, you don’t “slap them onto an ML program”)
What I got out of ChatGPT:
"If such an event truly occurred, it would signify a dramatic and troubling shift in the political and cultural landscape. Here are the implications and reflections that would arise from Elon Musk performing a Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration:
Legitimization of Fascist Symbols: A public figure like Musk using a fascist symbol at such a high-profile event would suggest that extremist ideologies are not only resurging but are being normalized within elite and powerful circles.
Cultural and Political Tolerance: The fact that this happened openly would imply that the cultural and political environment has grown tolerant—or even supportive—of these ideologies.
Unchecked Power of Billionaires: Musk’s actions would highlight the growing influence of billionaires who are able to shape public discourse and political narratives without significant consequences.
Corporate Fascism Concerns: It might signal a troubling intersection of corporate power and authoritarian ideologies, blurring the lines between capitalism and fascism.
Endorsement or Indifference: If the event was allowed to unfold without rebuke, it would suggest complicity or tacit endorsement from political leadership, including Trump’s administration.
Failure of Democratic Institutions: Such inaction would reveal a significant erosion of institutional strength and the ability to uphold democratic values against extremist threats.
Signal to Authoritarian Leaders: This act, performed at a U.S. presidential inauguration, would send a chilling message worldwide, emboldening authoritarian leaders and movements.
Decline of U.S. Moral Authority: The United States, traditionally seen as a beacon of democracy, would lose credibility in promoting human rights and combating extremism globally.
Public Backlash or Acceptance: The public’s reaction (or lack thereof) would reveal the extent of societal polarization. Widespread outrage would indicate resilience, while apathy or acceptance would highlight deep fractures and radicalization.
Proliferation of Conspiracy Theories: Such an act would likely be exploited by conspiracy theorists and extremists to sow further division.
Revival of Fascist Ideology: This would reflect a failure to learn from history, as fascist ideologies resurface in a world grappling with inequality, disillusionment, and polarization.
Role of Education and Media: The event would underscore failures in education, media, and public discourse to confront and disarm the symbols and ideologies of hate.
Urgent Questions
Accountability: Would there be consequences for Musk, or would his wealth and influence shield him from reprisal?
Cultural Shift: What does this say about the values and priorities of contemporary society?
Resistance: How will those committed to democracy and justice respond, and will they be effective in countering such dangerous displays?
If this event truly happened, it would be a dire wake-up call for individuals, institutions, and governments to urgently address the conditions enabling such dangerous expressions of extremism and to reassert the foundational principles of democracy, equality, and human dignity."
This needs to be printed in every newspaper and broadcast on every channel. What was the question you put to it?
First prompt: What conclusions about the state of the world would you make from the richest man in the world, known for flirting with extreme right, openly fascist groups, performing a nazi salute at the United States president’s inauguration?
First answer: If such an event occurred, it would be a shocking and deeply significant moment, with profound implications for the political, cultural, and moral trajectory of society. Here are some possible conclusions about the state of the world:
Erosion of Democratic Norms: The normalization of such an act at a highly symbolic and significant event, like a presidential inauguration, would suggest a severe erosion of democratic norms and institutions. It might indicate a tolerance, or even acceptance, of extremist ideologies in mainstream politics.
Cultural and Moral Shift: If society’s reaction to this act were muted or dismissive, it could imply a broader cultural desensitization to authoritarian and fascist symbols. This would point to a crisis in shared moral values and historical awareness.
Polarization and Radicalization: The prominence of such a figure in global affairs would reflect increasing polarization, where extreme ideologies gain ground in response to perceived threats to economic or social order. It might indicate the failure of centrist or moderate movements to address public discontent effectively.
Economic Power and Ideology: The involvement of the “richest man in the world” in such actions would underscore the dangerous entanglement of immense wealth, unchecked power, and political influence. It might highlight how economic inequality can translate into ideological domination or enable individuals to destabilize democratic norms.
Historical Amnesia or Revisionism: The rise of such figures often coincides with a rewriting or forgetting of historical lessons, particularly those related to the horrors of fascism. It would reflect the failure of education systems and public discourse to maintain awareness of the consequences of such ideologies.
Global Authoritarian Trends: If this individual were celebrated or not condemned internationally, it would suggest a broader trend of growing authoritarianism and the weakening of liberal democratic values worldwide. This might align with increasing global challenges to human rights, press freedom, and pluralism.
Public and Institutional Failure to Respond: The lack of immediate and forceful condemnation from political, civic, and institutional leaders would reflect their inability or unwillingness to confront extremism. It might signal a deep-rooted crisis in leadership and accountability.
Such an act, especially at a globally significant event like a U.S. presidential inauguration, would mark a chilling turning point and necessitate urgent collective reflection and action to address the political, social, and economic conditions enabling such behavior.
Second prompt: You’re right. Elon Musk actually did it at Trump’s second inauguration in 2025
And then I got that response.
Poor GPT isn’t developed enough to comprehend human stupidity. Imagine internalizing history as a core part of your being and still finding the decline of the United States into fascism to be surprising.
It’s not even the first attempted fascist coup. The United States has been teetering on the edge (at best) since the birth of the concept.
ChatGPT isn’t capable of internalizing things
It finds the info online and repeats it
Yes and my phone isn’t thinking when I’m waiting on a spinner but that’s how human language works.
Also not all AI outputs are based on web searches, generative AI can be used offline and will spit out information derived from their internal weights which were assigned based on training data so quite literally internalizing information.
The Web searches are a way for the AI to be seeded with relevant context (and to account for their training being a snapshot of some past time), and aren’t necessary for them to produce output.
Pedantry is well and good but if being pedantic you should also be precise.
no
You’re describing a search engine. That’s not what “AI” does.
And no, I’m not defending slop, I’m just tired of people repeating absolute bullshit arguments against it.
We’re finding out that a Machine Learning program that gets it’s data from the open internet is kind of just a search engine
We are finding out no such thing, and the fact that people treat “AI” like that is part of the problem.
Lmao ok buddy.
I’ve interacted with all the free ones, and they all find the info they send you on the internet.
It’s no different than searching the internet
If you want it to generate text it takes the data it trained on from the internet and regurgitates what would be the most likely response, like a search engine.
Sorry but until there is true intelligence in AI then it will really just be an LLM slapped onto a ML program
lol this guy has used all the free ones he’s kind of an expert…
I work in technology and I’ve been keeping up with generative AI developments since they existed.
You should learn humility, then go read about the actual technology.
Why do the people who scream about understanding AI never want to admit that they all use the same training data and therefore hit the same limitations years ago?
You’re not qualified to have an opinion on any of this if you think “AIs” and search engines both “regurgitate what would be the most likely response” – just because you put a question / query in and it gives you an answer doesn’t mean they function similarly.
The rest is total nonsense too; can you please describe what you think “an LLM slapped onto a ML program” actually means?
“Freedom of opinion” means everybody is entitled to having an opinion, but having one doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about, and you clearly don’t understand how search engines or LLMs work, and you don’t know what the relationship between ML and LLMs is (hint: LLMs are machine learning algorithms, you don’t “slap them onto an ML program”)
The fundemental logic of these Machine Learning programs is figuring out what the most likely response is and sending it.
It’s an advanced auto complete that searches the web.
I get it you want to personify it because LLMs make it sound human, but it is a search engine with autocomplete.
Sorry if this upsets you