The online network X has caused major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to offer commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
