The UK along with over 60 other nations and international regions, has jointly demanded “urgent regulatory attention” on AI image generation due to its capacity to cause serious harm.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), representing the UK, was one of dozens of international signatories of a joint statement expressing serious concern that AI tools, particularly those integrated into popular social media platforms like Grok, can be used to generate and share non-consensual images of real people that are defamatory or otherwise harmful.
The statement, as well as encouraging swift legislative action to regulate AI image generation, said that beyond regional legality, “fundamental principles should guide all organisations developing and using AI content generation”.
These principles included robust safeguards to prevent harmful non-consensual image generation, meaningful transparency about AI system capabilities and safeguards, mechanisms to rapidly remove images upon request of the victim and specific measures implemented to protect children.
The international coalition included the majority of EU nations, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and many more.
The list notably did not include the United States or China.
Responding to the joint statement, William Malcolm, executive director of regulatory risk and innovation at the ICO said: “People should be able to benefit from AI without fearing that their identity, dignity or safety are under threat.
“AI already plays a large role in all our lives, and everybody has a right to expect that AI systems handling their personal data will do with respect.
“Responsible innovation means putting people first: anticipating the risks and building in meaningful safeguards to ensure autonomy, transparency, and control.
“We expect those developing and deploying AI to act responsibly. Where we find that obligations have not been met, we will take action to protect the public.”
The UK along with other international authorities are currently investigating the X AI chatbot Grok for irresponsibly allowing illicit and intimate deepfakes to be generated.