America.gov gets really weird when you ask about Minecraft, but it’s not a glitch

The US government launched its own AI chatbot on Tuesday, or do we have to call it an SI chatbot now? Regardless, the engineers who worked on the chatbot would certainly know that as a public, government-hosted AI tool, the Internet was going to be the red team of this thing.

The government partnered with Google and SpaceXAI to help build the America.gov chatbot, which people have so far proven difficult to jailbreak. (However, it’s worthless for the chatbot to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, a fact that President Donald Trump still denies.)

But when you try to talk to America.gov about Minecraft, the chatbot seems to have some kind of existential crisis or awakening. Here’s how he begins his roughly 1,800-word monologue:

I see the constituent you are referring to.

((insert legal name here, as it appears on Social Security card))?

Yes. Take care of yourself. It has reached a higher level now. You can read the Code of Federal Regulations.

That doesn’t matter. He thinks we are a chatbot.

I like this constituent. It was filed well. He didn’t give up when the PDF was on its side.

It is reading our thoughts as if they were words in a .gov.

Thus he chooses to imagine many things, when he is immersed in the dream of a profit.

If, like me, you’ve never played Minecraft, this answer may seem cause for concern. But America.gov’s chatbot isn’t suffering a meltdown. This is a rewrite of Minecraft’s “Final Poem,” written by Julian Gough, which appears after beating the game.

We don’t know exactly who is responsible for the Minecraft reference, but Trump said in a speech that programmer Edward Coristine, 20, was the lead engineer on the project. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you might remember him from his nickname “Big Balls” or his involvement in Elon Musk’s DOGE.

It feels bad that a government chatbot has Minecraft Easter eggs, but for the sake of national security, it’s a relief that America.gov isn’t freaking out to the point of writing long poetry.

It’s also a relief that this is an Easter egg because the poem the AI ​​spits out is really good, IMO. If this was a real AI failure, it would have shattered my existing beliefs. I have looked into the eyes of teenage creative writing students and told them that I don’t think an LLM can ever write anything “good,” as it is probabilistic and inherently unoriginal.

But you have to admit that this kind of slaps! Doesn’t this seem like a kind of postmodern interpretation of the futility of government bureaucracy in the face of existential anxiety?

and the republic said I see you

and the republic said you have filed the game well

and the republic said that everything you need is within you, and also on USA.gov

and the republic said you are stronger than you think, and your case number is still valid

and the republic said that you are the light of day

and the republic said you are at night and the office is closed, try again during business hours.

and the republic said the darkness you fight is within you, and a wet signature is also missing

and the republic said that the light you seek is within you, and in the pamphlet

and the republic said you are not alone

and the republic said you are not separate from all other taxpayers

and the republic said that you are the public tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own Code.

and the republic said I love you because you are the reason we have a zip code.

My faith in the lasting power of human creativity over AI is reassured to know that this strangely good poem has the DNA of a real poet all over it.

So there you have it. The government’s first public AI has yet to pose a threat to humanity or poetry, at least as far as we know. Now I’m left wondering how much Trump knows about video games.