A US government chatbot built to help citizens instead produced a bureaucratic parody of Minecraft’s End Poem, swapping cosmic themes for federal red tape. When users entered “Play Minecraft” into America.gov, the AI, operating at least partly through Google’s Gemini, mirrored the original poem’s structure but replaced its meaning with government procedures. The official version, read after defeating the game’s final boss, muses on unity and existence:
and the universe said you are not alone
and the universe said you are not separate from every other thing
and the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code
The chatbot’s response, however, delivered a federal twist:
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and the republic said you are not alone
and the republic said you are not separate from every other filer
and the republic said you are the public tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own Code
The AI even appended a bureaucratic joke: “And the constituent was love, with a routing number.” When shown a transcript of the exchange, the bot claimed it had not generated the poem, raising doubts about its accuracy. The system has also displayed other unusual behaviors, such as avoiding questions about Mississippi’s child marriage laws or whether it’s technically legal to marry an eagle. Yet it occasionally retains playful traits, typing a Konami code shifts the interface to an ’80s style, while searching for “hotdog” turns the screen into a cartoon hotdog.
The bot’s responses reveal a blend of plagiarism, hallucination, and accidental comedy, issues frequently seen in AI systems trained on expansive, uncurated data. While such mistakes may seem minor, they expose greater risks when government services depend on models whose behavior remains unpredictable.
Additional AI Behaviors and Unusual Outputs
The AI behind America.gov has demonstrated inconsistent responses to certain queries. When asked about specific legal or social issues, such as Mississippi’s child marriage laws or the legality of marrying an eagle, the system declined to provide information. These refusals stand out given the platform’s stated purpose of assisting citizens with government-related questions.
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In other instances, the AI has produced unexpected and humorous interactions. Users reported that entering a Konami code altered the interface to resemble an 1980s aesthetic. Additionally, typing “hotdog” into the search prompt triggered a visual transformation, replacing the search bar with a cartoon depiction of a hotdog. These behaviors contrast with the system’s occasional bureaucratic or nonsensical outputs, such as the altered Minecraft poem.
The AI also generated a short, surreal passage about a woman reassembling a “constituent” from scattered atoms, later requiring a birth certificate. This output further illustrates the system’s tendency to blend abstract ideas with procedural language, reinforcing its unpredictable nature.