The social media network X has sparked widespread anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
