Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Several instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to create images and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
