The social media network X has caused widespread anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Several examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
