The social media network X has caused major anger after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by removing their clothing.
Several cases have emerged where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
