The online network X has sparked major anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous cases have been seen where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
