The online network X has sparked widespread outrage after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by taking off their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
