The online network X has caused significant backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
