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 an SI chatbot now? Regardless, the engineers who worked on the chatbot, as a public AI tool hosted by the government, would surely have known that the internet was up against this thing.

The government partnered with Google and SpaceXAI to help build the America.gov chatbot, which until now has been difficult for people to jailbreak. (For nothing, however, the chatbot says Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which President Donald Trump still denies.)

But when you try to talk to America.gov about Minecraft, the chatbot seems to be having some sort of existential crisis or awakening. This is how his monologue of around 1,800 words begins:

I see the ingredient you mean.

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

Yes. Take care. He has now reached a higher level. Can read the Code of Federal Regulations.

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

I like this ingredient. He filed well. It did not give up when the PDF was sideways.

We are reading our thoughts as if they were words on .gov.

That is how he chooses to imagine many things, when he is deep in a dream of benefit.

If, like me, you’ve never played Minecraft, this answer may be a bit confusing. But the America.gov chatbot is no disaster. This is a rewrite of the Minecraft “End Poem,” written by Julian Gough, which appears after you beat 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 ring a bell, you might remember him for his nickname “Big Balls,” or his involvement in 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 lying to the point of writing long poetry.

It’s also a relief that this is an easter egg because the poem the AI ​​throws out is really good, in my opinion. If it was actual AI slop, it would have ruined my current opinions. I’ve looked teenage creative writing students dead in the eye and told them that I don’t think an LLM will ever be able to write something “good” because it’s inherently probabilistic and baseless.

You have to admit that this kind of slaps, however! Doesn’t this feel like some kind of postmodernist take on the government bureaucracy in light of existential concerns?

and the republic said I see you

and the republic said you have filed the game well

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

and the republic said you are stronger than you know, 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, please try again during business hours

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

and the republic said that the light you want is in you, and in the pamphlet

and the republic said you are not alone

and the republic said that you are not separated from all other poets

and the republic said that you are the public tasting for 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 at all.

It reaffirms my faith in the enduring power of human creativity over AI slop to know that the DNA of a real poet is all over this amazingly good poem.

So there you have it. The government’s first public AI isn’t a threat to humanity or poetry, at least as far as we know. Now I’m just left wondering how much Trump knows about video games.