The online network X has sparked major backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
