The social media network X has provoked major outrage after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
