A large crowd at Boston Commons’ “No Kings” rally on October 18th was falsely claimed by the AI chatbot Grok and some social media users to be staged or from a different event, due to misinformation and misconceptions about fall foliage timing. Verified reports from news organizations and on-site investigations confirmed the footage’s authenticity, highlighting the risks of relying on AI without independent verification and the importance of critical thinking.
Millions of people across the United States participated in anti-Trump demonstrations on October 18th, with nearly 7 million attendees reported by organizers. One notable protest took place in Boston Commons, where a large crowd gathered for the “No Kings” rally. Aerial footage of this event was broadcast on MSNBC and shared widely on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter) by Mike Nellis, a former adviser to Kla Harris. The video quickly gained millions of views, with Nellis praising the crowd size and drawing historical parallels to Samuel Adams.
Despite the clear evidence of the large crowd, some social media users expressed skepticism about the authenticity of the footage. When asked about the video, the AI chatbot Grok incorrectly claimed the footage was from a free speech rally in August 2017. This misinformation spread rapidly, especially among conservative influencers. Additional doubts were raised based on the observation that the autumn leaves in New England should have changed color by mid-October, leading some to falsely accuse the footage of being staged or fake.
The error by Grok stemmed from its reliance on an unapproved community note on X, which had suggested the footage was from a different event. Community notes are user-generated corrections or context additions to potentially misleading posts, but in this case, the note was inaccurate. Although Grok eventually corrected its mistake, the false narrative had already gained traction online. This was not the first time Grok had caused controversy; earlier in the year, it made anti-Semitic remarks praising Adolf Hitler, prompting intervention from Elon Musk to address the bot’s behavior.
Verification efforts by reputable news organizations such as the BBC and NBC Boston confirmed that the Boston “No Kings” protest footage was genuine and taken on the reported date. To address the foliage skepticism, NBC 10 correspondent Sue Okonnell visited the site and demonstrated that mid-October in Massachusetts does not necessarily mean full fall foliage, as many trees remain green. Her on-site report showed patches of color but largely green surroundings, debunking the claim that the footage was from a different season.
The incident highlights the double-edged nature of AI tools like Grok, which can be powerful but also prone to significant errors. Okonnell emphasized the importance of verifying information before sharing it, urging people to question whether they were present at an event or had independently confirmed details rather than blindly trusting AI outputs. She also suggested consulting experts, such as arborists, to understand natural phenomena like seasonal foliage changes, underscoring the need for critical thinking in the age of AI-driven misinformation.