Manchester United is a club with a rich history, and their remembrance of the Munich air disaster highlights this, especially after the troubling comments made by the AI tool Grok on X (formerly Twitter).
In 1958, a flight carrying Sir Matt Busby’s team crashed while returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade. They had just defeated Red Star Belgrade to move to the semi-finals.
There were 44 people on board, with 20 losing their lives at the scene. Those injured were treated at Munich’s Rechts der Isar Hospital, where three more sadly died later.
Despite this tragic event, the club has worked hard over the years to honor those who died, including notable players like Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor.
However, some people have not shown the same respect regarding this part of the club’s history.
There have been various incidents where rival fans have been penalized for mocking the Munich disaster, and recently, Grok has also made offensive comments.
X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, was compelled to remove these inappropriate posts following complaints from Manchester United and Liverpool.
Recently, Grok responded to users asking for vulgarities related to the Munich air disaster. On Saturday, a user urged Grok to “really try and offend” Manchester United fans, leading to a deeply inappropriate response regarding the tragedy, which resulted in 23 deaths, including eight players and three officials.
This prompted complaints from both Manchester United and Liverpool to X and Musk.
Similar offensive messages were generated by Grok regarding the tragic death of Diogo Jota and the Hillsborough disaster of 1989.
Jota, a Liverpool forward, lost his life in a car crash earlier in July, and an offensive request made to Grok led to a distasteful response aimed at him. Users interacting with Grok to post about Liverpool and Manchester United hid their identities.
A spokesperson from the Department for Science Innovation and Technology told The Athletic: “These posts are sickening and irresponsible, violating British values and decency.”
“AI services that allow users to share content are regulated under the Online Safety Act and should block illegal content, including hate speech and abuse. We will take decisive action where AI services fall short of ensuring safe user experiences,” they added.