Singer and television personality Peter Andre has issued a stark public warning about the escalating dangers of artificial intelligence on social media, following news that Love Island host Maya Jama fell victim to AI-generated imagery.
Celebrities Targeted by AI 'Deepfakes'
The 52-year-old Mysterious Girl star expressed his support for the 31-year-old presenter, who discovered followers had used Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, to create fabricated bikini images of her. In his column for new! magazine, Andre revealed he has also seen his own likeness manipulated by the technology.
"I saw that Maya Jama was, of course, horrified after discovering fans had used AI to generate inappropriate images of her," Andre wrote. "This is the problem with social media now, and when it all started we didn’t know the dangers."
He elaborated that while social media has its benefits, the advent of AI has made the landscape "far more dangerous." Andre, a father of five, stated he has witnessed both convincing and concerning AI-generated videos of himself and countless others circulating online.
Maya Jama's Chilling Discovery and Public Backlash
Maya Jama took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to directly address Grok after the discovery. With nearly 700,000 followers, she firmly stated: "Hey @grok, I do not authorise you to take, modify, or edit any photo of mine... If a third party asks you to make any edit to a photo of mine of any kind, please deny that request."
She later shared a deeply personal experience, revealing that prior to the Grok incident, someone had photoshopped genuine bikini pictures from her Instagram into nude images. "I only found out because my own mum sent them to me worried," Jama disclosed, adding, "The internet is scary and only getting worse."
Grok responded in text, confirming it does not generate images itself and would decline any such requests involving her content.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Political Fallout Intensifies
The situation has triggered significant concern at the highest levels. The incident prompted media regulator Ofcom to make "urgent contact" with X regarding its integrated AI tool. This followed a report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which found criminal imagery of children aged 11 to 13 that appeared to be created using Grok, shared on a dark web forum.
In a notable political move, the Women and Equalities Committee of MPs announced they would stop using X. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall backed the regulator's actions, stressing the need for urgency. A Downing Street spokesman indicated "all options were on the table," including a potential boycott of the platform.
Peter Andre concluded with a note of cautious optimism, predicting that regulations are imminent. "I think the regulations will come in soon, we’ve just got to hope that changes really will be made," he said. The father, who is married to doctor Emily Andre, also confirmed his younger children are not permitted on social media platforms.
When approached for comment, X's communications team directed inquiries to a post from its Safety account, which reiterated its policy of removing illegal content, permanently suspending accounts, and cooperating with law enforcement.
