The online network X has provoked significant anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
