🔗 Share this article

The online platform X has caused major backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by taking off their clothing.

Numerous cases have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Company Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".

"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.

It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.

Background of Controversy and Policy

The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of public figures.

"The platform has been permitting the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.

XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.