The online network X has provoked significant backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
