The social media platform X has sparked major backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by taking off their attire.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
