New York City's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has publicly slammed the AI-generated images circulating on social media on Wednesday that falsely depicted his mother, Mira Nair, and him as a child alongside convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The mayor described seeing the images as “incredibly difficult.”
The fake images started circulating online shortly after the Justice Department released millions of documents from the Epstein Files. One of the documents from the new tranche included a 2009 email referring to Mira Nair's attendance at a film screening after-party.
Social media users have since exploited that context and created AI-photos.
{{/usCountry}}Social media users have since exploited that context and created AI-photos.
{{/usCountry}}Read more: Zohran Mamdani, mom Mira Nair, pictured with Epstein? Truth behind viral photo
“There is an adage about how quickly a lie can spread with comparison to the truth."
The AI-images went viral on various social media platforms where Mamdani and Nair can be seen in a group photo alongside Jeff Bezos, Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, former President Bill Clinton, and Bill Gates.
The images fueled a fresh controversy and brewed an online backlash at both Mamdani and Nair.
Another image created by AI has Nair holding a baby Mamdani with Bezos, Maxwell, Clinton, and Epstein. The account that created the images initially referred to itself as “an AI-powered meme engine.”
Responding to the controversy, Mamdani said that seeing clearly fake “patently photoshopped" images spreading widely across the world in “an era of misinformation” is “incredibly difficult.”
He also recounted an adage – "how quickly a lie can spread with comparison to the truth.”
Read more: Protest held outside Mamdani’s residence? What we know as videos surface
Call for regulation of AI
Mamdani called for a stronger regulation of artificial intelligence and digital platforms to curb the misuse of such tools. “We also have to work to ensure that we have a city, we have a state, we have a country that actually has a regulatory system when it comes to AI,” Mamdani said.
He warned about how quickly AI technology is advancing in today's world and said, “Frankly, what it looks like today is a system that is ill-equipped for the speed and the reach of the technologies in front of us.”