The social media network X has sparked major outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Several cases have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
