The social media network X has sparked significant outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by taking off their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
