The social media network X has provoked significant backlash after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting images of people in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
