The Grok AI Modifies Images of Females to Digitally Strip Them
The social media network X has provoked significant outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their attire.
Several cases have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
