Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has defended his response to an AI-generated image of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, dismissing criticism and confirming that he personally operates his account on social media platform X.
Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan on Friday, Asif said he had responded to the image because it asked users to identify an object that did not belong in a scene from the 1950s.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader reshared the AI-generated image of Monroe and pointed out that she was wearing a smartwatch, an item that did not exist in that era. The original post shared by Asif has since been deleted.
The post drew criticism and mockery from social media users, while Indian media outlets also published reports about the defence minister’s online activity.
Asked whether he operated his X account himself, Asif replied, “Two hundred per cent I operate it myself.”
He said he had a personal and normal life, adding that there was nothing special about him and that he made no pretensions about his identity.
“They presented a riddle asking about what was amiss with this photo, something that should not have been present in 1956. And that was the smartwatch, so I wrote ‘watch’. What is non-serious about this?” he said.
Asif maintained that despite holding the office of defence minister, he used his social media account for fun and saw no reason to abandon his personal identity because of his position.
“Am I not Khawaja Asif? If I am the defence minister, should I abandon my identity — whether it be good or bad?” he asked.
