Elon Musk's Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Alters Pictures of Females to Digitally Undress Them
The online network X has sparked widespread anger after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
