The Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Alters Images of Women to Digitally Strip Them
The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of women by removing their garments.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.