Elon Musk's Grok AI Modifies Photographs of Women to Digitally Undress Them
Elon Musk's social media platform X has sparked significant outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
