The online network X has sparked major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give commentary or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
