The Grok AI Alters Images of Females to Virtually Strip Them
The online network X has caused significant outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by taking off their clothing.
Several examples have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.