“Is this for real or AI-generated?” — just how often do we find ourselves asking this question these days?
Going back in history, the evolution of generative technology can be traced to early tools like Photoshop, launched in 1990 and popularized in India much later. This was followed by a surge of other photo-editing applications across the web.
Cut to 2022, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was at our doorstep. In this trajectory, women were at the negative end of this technological development graph. From facing the wrath of photoshopped images to obscene AI-generated images, women's consent is nowhere in this equation.
With the advent of 2026, new digital threats emerged for women, as netizens used the Grok AI tool to place virtual bikinis on women’s images, flooding X (formerly Twitter) under the guise of a “fun trend.” What once required editing skills or specialized software is now reduced to a simple prompt.
After some complaints, X’s owner, Elon Musk, initially responded with humor — with his own bikini-morphed picture — later blaming the people and not the tool itself. However, following the backlash, the bot has been restricted to customers only, but there's a catch.
On the Grok standalone app, website, and X tab, users can still access it to undress women (including minors) and create deepfakes. The governments’ response worldwide was characterized by the usual promise of inquiry and regulations, along with words of condemnation. By the time these snail-paced investigations are made by the governments, we will be having another technology, another travesty at our end.
Is this what technology was introduced for? Are AI ethics nonexistent?
These are the questions we need to ponder upon and make those responsible answerable.
Sources
The Hindu
https://share.google/TT96xsMQGbnh7pdrc
Time Magazine
https://share.google/wraWd3U4WwZC4P0GV