The social media network X has caused significant backlash after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
