Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary, Alfred Mutua, has dismissed an image circulating online that allegedly shows him kneeling behind President William Ruto terming “not real and digitally altered”.
In a statement, Mutua said the image had been generated using artificial intelligence to mislead the public and create false impressions about him.
“I wish to alert the public that a manipulated, AI-generated image is currently circulating online, falsely portraying me in a compromising and misleading situation. The image is not real and has been digitally altered to spread misinformation and create misunderstanding,” Mutua said.
The Cabinet Secretary warned that the spread of altered images and videos posed a growing threat to public discourse, especially as AI tools become more accessible and sophisticated. He urged Kenyans to exercise caution when consuming content shared on social media platforms, calling on the public to verify information through credible and official sources before sharing it further.
“I urge all Kenyans to verify information from credible sources and to avoid sharing unverified or sensational content. Let us work together to stop the spread of digital misinformation,” he added.
Mutua’s remarks come amid rising concerns globally over the misuse of artificial intelligence to create deepfakes and manipulated images that can damage reputations, influence public opinion and undermine trust in information shared online.
The warning from Mutua comes a week after Elon Musk’s platform X announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, following global backlash over its generation of sexualized photos of women and children.
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis,” X’s safety team said at the time. “This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers.”
https://x.com/DrAlfredMutua/status/2013647573576307098
While sharing his statement he also shared the real image against the fake one as proof.
