The Grok AI Modifies Images of Women to Virtually Remove Their Clothes
The online platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to create images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
