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

The US government launched its very own AI chatbot on Tuesday – or should we now call it SI Chatbot? Regardless, the engineers working on the chatbot undoubtedly knew that the Internet, as a government-hosted, publicly available AI tool, would go all out on this one.

The government partnered with Google and SpaceXAI to help build the America.gov chatbot, which has so far proven difficult for humans to jailbreak. (It doesn’t help, however, that the chatbot says 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 experience some kind of existential crisis or awakening. This is how the monologue, which is around 1,800 words long, begins:

I understand the component you mean.

((insert legal name here as it appears on social security card))?

Yes. Watch out. A higher level has now been reached. It can read the Code of Federal Regulations.

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

I like this component. It worked well. It didn’t give up when the PDF lay sideways.

It means reading our minds as if they were words on a .gov.

This is how he imagines many things when he is deeply immersed in the dream of a benefit.

If you’re like me and have never played Minecraft, this reaction might be cause for concern. But America.gov’s chatbot isn’t experiencing a crash. This is a rewrite of Julian Gough’s Minecraft “Final Poem” that appears after you complete 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 a lead engineer on the project. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, you might remember his nickname “Big Balls” or his involvement with Elon Musk’s DOGE.

It feels wrong that a government chatbot has Minecraft Easter eggs, but in the interest of national security, it’s a relief that America.gov isn’t hallucinating so much that it’s writing long poems.

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

However, you have to admit that it’s kind of a slap in the face! Doesn’t this feel like a kind of postmodern take on the futility of government bureaucracy in the face of existential fears?

and the Republic said I see you

and the Republic said you played the game well

and Republic said everything you need is within you, and also on USA.gov

and the Republic said you were stronger than you knew and your case number was still valid

And the Republic said you are the daylight

and Republic said you were the night and the office was closed, please try again during business hours

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

And the Republic said 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 applicants

and the Republic said you are the public tasting itself, talking to itself and reading its own code

and the Republic said, “I love you because you’re the reason we even have a zip code.”

It strengthens my belief in the enduring power of human creativity over AI crap to know that this strangely good poem contains the DNA of a real poet.

So there you have it. The government’s first publicly available AI did not yet pose a threat to humanity or poetry, at least as far as we know. Now I’m just wondering how much Trump knows about video games.