Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif's AI post on Marilyn Monroe sparks propriety debate

Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has come under fire for sharing an AI-generated puzzle featuring Marilyn Monroe on X (formerly Twitter).

Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has come under fire for sharing an AI-generated puzzle featuring Marilyn Monroe on X (formerly Twitter). Social media users questioned the propriety of a senior minister sharing ‘frivolous’ posts at a time when Pakistan is facing internal security challenges on multiple fronts.

What did the image show?

Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif faced backlash for sharing an AI-generated image of Marilyn Monroe on X.

Khawaja Asif, 77, shared an AI-generated puzzle on X earlier this week. The puzzle challenged users to find the anachronistic element in an AI image of Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe set in 1956.

The AI image, set in 1956, shows Monroe wearing a pair of shorts and a crop top. The Hollywood icon was also seen wearing a modern smartwatch, completely at odds with the vintage setting.

What did the Pakistani Defence Minister write?

Asif reposted the puzzle with a single word and an emoji. “Watch,” he wrote, adding a smiley face emoji at the end.

Why did the post generate backlash?

“Pakistan is drowning in economic, political, and security crises, with KP on the brink of imploding from within. In the meantime, its Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif is busy boosting his newly created fake "American woman" burner account,” wrote one X user.

“Looks like Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif forgot to switch accounts,” another person theorised.

“War shor to hoti rahegi, watching Marilyn Monroe is important,” a user quipped on Instagram.

An overwhelming majority of viewers found the post to be unprofessional. The post also drew backlash for promoting “AI slop” — a newly-coined term for low-quality, mass-produced digital content created using generative artificial intelligence.