New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing a digital nightmare, with AI-generated images circulating online that purport to show him alongside notorious figures including Jeffrey Epstein. The images, which have been spread across social media platforms, are so convincing they've left the mayor feeling "incredibly difficult" to deal with.
The AI-generated images, developed using Google's tool, depict Mamdani as a child with his mother, film director Mira Nair, posing with Epstein and other high-profile individuals. One image shows the three of them together in a group photo, while another appears to show Nair holding a baby Mamdani with Epstein and Clinton.
Mamdani expressed frustration at the ease with which these images can be created and disseminated, citing the difficulty in distinguishing fact from fiction. "At a personal level, it is incredibly difficult to see images that you know to be fake, that are patently photoshopped and AI-generated," he said.
This isn't the first time Mamdani has fallen victim to such an attack. Last year's mayoral campaign saw Andrew Cuomo's team publish an AI-generated ad featuring Mamdani eating rice with his hands – a move that was later attributed to an error.
As concerns over misinformation and AI-generated content continue to grow, government officials are scrambling to develop more robust regulations. Governor Kathy Hochul recently proposed a ban on the use of generative AI in political campaigns in New York, while Mamdani has been discussing the issue with his schools chancellor.
Mamdani acknowledged that existing systems for regulating AI are ill-equipped to keep pace with the speed and reach of these technologies. "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," he said.
The AI-generated images, developed using Google's tool, depict Mamdani as a child with his mother, film director Mira Nair, posing with Epstein and other high-profile individuals. One image shows the three of them together in a group photo, while another appears to show Nair holding a baby Mamdani with Epstein and Clinton.
Mamdani expressed frustration at the ease with which these images can be created and disseminated, citing the difficulty in distinguishing fact from fiction. "At a personal level, it is incredibly difficult to see images that you know to be fake, that are patently photoshopped and AI-generated," he said.
This isn't the first time Mamdani has fallen victim to such an attack. Last year's mayoral campaign saw Andrew Cuomo's team publish an AI-generated ad featuring Mamdani eating rice with his hands – a move that was later attributed to an error.
As concerns over misinformation and AI-generated content continue to grow, government officials are scrambling to develop more robust regulations. Governor Kathy Hochul recently proposed a ban on the use of generative AI in political campaigns in New York, while Mamdani has been discussing the issue with his schools chancellor.
Mamdani acknowledged that existing systems for regulating AI are ill-equipped to keep pace with the speed and reach of these technologies. "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," he said.
These AI-generated images are just wild, I'm talking like, totally convincing! It's crazy how easy it is for people to create these fake pics and spread them around online. And to think that there's no way to know if they're real or not... it's super frustrating for him, and I can understand why. As a netizen, we all have to be careful about the info we consume online, but at the same time, we need to keep up with these emerging techs too. 
I think it's awesome that he's talking to his schools chancellor about this - we need more conversations like that happening in the public eye. But yeah, it's clear that our current systems for regulating AI just aren't keeping pace... 
this is getting out of hand AI-generated pics are so convincing even i wouldn't believe it 
if mamdani didn't say it himself... how hard can it be to fact-check stuff when u got tech that can do ur homework for u 
? and what's with the gov't only now proposing regulations like they're gonna magically fix everything 
we've been here before with deepfakes and stuff back in 2018... same song, different city 
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i feel bad for mamdani having to deal with this kinda thing, especially since his own campaign team did something similar last year 
anyway hope gov Hochul's proposal helps put a stop to these fake pics and gets a better system in place ASAP 
. And poor Mayor Zohran Mamdani gotta deal with this drama 
. Can you believe these fake pics got him feeling like he's stuck in a bad sci-fi movie? 
It's like, can't we just stick to the truth for once? 
. We need more regulation, totes! 
and now the gov's gotta step in to create new rules 
but on the bright side, this means we can make these AI-generated images a thing of the past 
and also get some serious upgrades to our reg systems 
And I feel 4 him cuz I'd be freaked out if I saw me in a pic w/ someone I know is a total loser.
It's time 2 get serious about AI cuz it's takin over our lives. We gotta keep up w/ the tech or else we'll be lost in a sea of misinformation 
, I mean what's worse than people spreading false info about you online? And how did those AI-generated pics even get made in the first place? Like, is there some kind of tutorial on YouTube or something? 
It's like, Mayor Mamdani's personal life is being Photoshopped (literally) and it's just... 
️. And can we please talk about the importance of fact-checking? 
Those AI-generated images are seriously creepy and it's no wonder he's feeling like his personal life is under attack 
That's not enough - we need stricter regulations, stat! 
). And now our politicians are facing this digital nightmare? It's like a bad sci-fi movie. I feel for Mayor Mamdani, but seriously, what's being done to stop this? We need better regulations, pronto 
. Until we get our act together, I'll be over here, fact-checking everything 
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it's crazy that the mayor is feeling "incredibly difficult" dealing with this... I feel for him lol. And ugh, last year he got roasted by Cuomo too?! 
It's also time for stricter regulations on AI-generated content, so we don't see this kind of "deepfake" manipulation in the future.