Elon Musk's Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Modifies Images of Females to Virtually Strip Them
The online network X has sparked significant anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by removing their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
