Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by removing their garments.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
