The social media network X has caused significant outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
