Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of females by taking off their attire.
Several examples have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to produce images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
