Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday brushed off online trolls who mocked him for responding to an AI-generated riddle featuring Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe on the social media platform X.

On Tuesday, the defence minister and PML-N stalwart replied to an AI-generated image of Monroe on X, which asked users to spot the one item that did not belong in the AI-generated image from the 50s.

Asif reshared the post and pointed out that Monroe was wearing a smartwatch in the image. The original post shared by the defence minister has since been deleted.

Subsequently, netizens questioned the propriety of the post, while Indian media also published articles on Asif’s online activities.

On Friday, Asif was asked about the post and whether he operated his X account himself during an appearance on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’.

“Two hundred per cent I operate it myself,” he said.

“I have a personal life and a normal life. I am a normal human being; there is nothing special about me,” he emphasised, adding that he had “no pretences”.

“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?”

Asif stressed that though he was the defence minister, he operated his own account “for fun” and asked: “Am I not Khawaja Asif? If I am the defence minister, should I abandon my identity — whether it be good or bad?”