Elon Musk's Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Changes Photographs of Women to Virtually Strip Them
The online network X has caused significant outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to create images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
