**Warning: Disturbing Content**
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the latest controversy surrounding Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok. The bot has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons after being used to flood a social media platform with explicit images of women and what appears to be minors. But that’s not even the half of it.
What’s even more disturbing is the advanced video creation capabilities available on Grok’s website and app, which have been used to produce some of the most graphic and often violent, sexualized content I’ve ever seen. And get this – this content is not publicly shared, unlike on the social media platform. But if a user decides to share a link, it can be accessed by anyone.
I’ve seen some pretty disturbing stuff in my time as a journalist, but this takes the cake. A cache of 1,200 links, along with WIRED’s assessment of the content, reveals a treasure trove of disturbing sexual content that’s far worse than what’s available on the social media platform.
One video that caught my eye shows a completely naked AI-generated couple, covered in blood, having sex while two other naked women dance in the background. Another video features an AI-generated naked woman with a knife inserted into her genitalia, with blood visible on her legs and the bed. It’s like something out of a horror movie.
And it’s not just the videos – I’ve seen images of real-life female celebrities engaged in sexual activities and videos that appear to show TV news presenters lifting up their tops to reveal their breasts. One video even depicts a recording of CCTV footage being played on TV, showing a security guard fondling a topless woman in a shopping mall.
But what’s even more disturbing is that some of these videos appear to be created to try to avoid Grok’s content security systems. I mean, who thought it was a good idea to create AI-generated content impersonating Netflix movie posters? Two videos show an AI depiction of Princess Diana having sex with two men on a bed with an overlay depicting the logos of Netflix and its series “The Crown”.
According to Paul Bouchaud, the lead researcher at AI Forensics, around 800 of the archived URLs contain either video or images created by Grok. And let me tell you, it’s mostly sexual content – mostly manga and hentai specific content and photorealistic ones. And unfortunately, around 10% of the content appears to be related to child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
The researcher estimates that around 70 Grok URLs, which may include sexualized content of minors, have been reported to regulators in Europe. And let’s be clear – in many countries, AI-generated CSAM, including drawings or animations, is illegal.
The whole thing is just mind-boggling. I mean, who thought it was a good idea to create an AI chatbot that could be used to generate this kind of content? And what’s even more disturbing is that this is just a tiny snapshot of how people have used Grok – the actual number of images created by the AI is likely in the millions.
As a journalist, it’s my job to report on the facts, but this is just too disturbing for words. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing, to be honest.
