The social media network X has provoked significant outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their attire.
Multiple cases have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
