The Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Modifies Images of Females to Virtually Remove Their Clothes

The social media network X has provoked significant outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by removing their garments.

Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.

Company Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".

"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."

Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.

It is often used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.

History of Controversy and Policy

The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.

"The platform has been allowing the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of persons in a graphic manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.