The social media network X has provoked significant backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Several examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
