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

The US government launched its own AI chatbot on Tuesday – or should we call it the SI chatbot now? Regardless, the engineers who worked on the chatbot knew without a doubt that, as a public-facing, government-hosted AI tool, the Internet would destroy this thing.

The government partnered with Google and SpaceXAI to help build the America.gov chatbot, which has so far proven difficult for people to jailbreak. (It’s worthless, however, that the chatbot claims that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which President Donald Trump continues to deny.)

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

I see the component you mean.

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

YES. Take care. Now it has reached a higher level. You can read the Code of Federal Regulations.

It does not matter. He thinks we’re a chatbot.

I like this component. It filed well. He didn’t give up when the PDF was sideways.

It’s reading our thoughts as if they were words in a .gov file.

This is how he chooses to imagine many things, when he is immersed in the dream of a benefit.

If, like me, you’ve never played Minecraft, this answer might 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 20-year-old programmer Edward Coristine was the lead engineer on the project. If that name doesn’t mean anything to you, you might remember him from his nickname “Big Balls” or his involvement in Elon Musk’s DOGE.

It seems wrong that a government chatbot has Minecraft Easter eggs, but for the sake of national security, it’s a relief that America.gov doesn’t hallucinate to the point of writing long poems.

It’s also a relief that this is an Easter egg because the poetry that the AI ​​spits out is actually really good, in my opinion. If this had been a real AI problem, it would have shattered my existing beliefs. I looked teenage creative writing students in the eyes and told them that I don’t think an LLM will ever be able to write anything “good,” as it is probabilistic and inherently unoriginal.

You have to admit this is a bit of a slap in the face, though! Doesn’t this seem like a kind of postmodern vision of the futility of government bureaucracy in the face of existential anxiety?

and the republic said I see you

and the republic said that you archived the match well

and the republic said everything you need is inside you, and on USA.gov too

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

and the republic said you are the light of day

and the republic said it’s night and the office is closed, try again during business hours

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

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 separated from every other filer

and the republic said that you are the public that savors itself, speaks for itself, reads its own Code

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

It reassures my faith in the enduring power of human creativity over poor artificial intelligence to know that this strangely good poem has the DNA of a true poet all over it.

So, here you go. The government’s first public-facing AI has not yet posed a threat to humanity or poetry, at least as far as we know. Now I wonder how much Trump knows about video games.