By Amy Reast
A woman left “frightened and violated” after Grok turned her selfies into “soft porn” says the ban is not enough – and the solution is “educating young boys” because “it’s not an AI problem, it’s a human one”.
Dr. Daisy Dixon, 36, began to notice strange images of herself appearing on Elon Musk’s X late last year.
Men began requesting Grok make alterations to her profile picture and other photos of her shared online, such as holiday snaps.
This began with requests to dye her hair a different colour or put her in different clothes – which felt “mocking” to Daisy, but she ignored it.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dr Daisy Dixon (@daisylouisedixon)
But in the first week of January the requests became more twisted – as men began demanding Grok enlarge her breasts, widen her hips, and put her in a bikini.
She even began to see AI-generated videos of herself in a bikini moving in sexual ways.
Any attempts she made to call out the people responsible for the twisted Grok requests were met with claims Daisy is a ‘hypocrite’ – as she once shared a photo of herself on holiday where she had a bikini on, she said.
And after an Ofcom investigation, it was confirmed Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok will no longer be able to edit photos of real people to show them in revealing clothing.
Daisy, who lives in Cardiff and works as a lecturer in Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics at Cardiff University, said: “I noticed towards the end of December that under random posts, men would ask Grok to dye my hair, put me in different clothing or clown makeup.
“It just seemed like mocking, humiliation, and downplaying my authority.
“In January the more sexualized photos started after I posted a gym progress photo – and it really escalated.
“I got lots of bikini posts, people asked for it to make my hips wider, breasts larger, and in provocative poses.
“There were videos too.
“The clown makeup or dyed hair started to feel violating but the overt sexualisation is when the fear sets in.
“I felt frightened and unsafe.”
Daisy said she attempted to get as many explicit AI images of herself removed, but is unsure if any others are out there.
She said she felt physically unsafe to the point she took measures to make sure people online couldn’t tell where she or her loved ones lived.
She said: “These aren’t drawings and paintings, there’s something very visceral and immediate.
“I don’t want to dilute sexual assault and rape, but it feels like that.
“It made me reflect on my entire life as a girl and a woman.
“It makes you think back to being wolf whistled – I was aged 10 when that first happened.
“The male gaze has dominated our lives.
“Now we can’t even exist in digital spaces without being violated.”
Dr Daisy is pleased to see changes to legislation being made, as well as restrictions placed on Grok and X.
But she feels it’s not enough.
She said: “It’s not clear what consequences these new users might face beyond someone going and reporting them.
“A lot of the accounts requesting or sharing them are anonymous or don’t have identifying information.
“The thing is, AI does a lot of good things. It’s not an AI problem, it’s a human one.
“This tech needs ethical guardrails put in place.
“But ultimately the solution is educating young boys, and breaking the cycle.”
