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Actor Imran Ashraf has reassured his fans that he is, in fact, “absolutely fine”, after AI-generated clips of journalists and celebrities were shared online, claiming he had passed away.

The actor posted a story on his Instagram account saying the news was fake and that he was very much alive. Ashraf did still ask his fans for prayers though — perhaps to keep AI trolls away.

The story was likely responding to a number of AI-generated videos circulating on social media of people proclaiming the actor had passed away of a “dil attack”.

A TikTok account posted several of these clips featuring AI versions of actor Bilal Abbas, cricket star Shahid Afridi and journalist Mansoor Ali Khan. There was even a video of the Mazaaq Raat host’s ‘funeral’.

Ashraf is not the first celebrity to fall victim to AI-generated misinformation and he definitely isn’t the first to hear rumours of his own death.

In June, singer Tahira Syed posted a proof of life video on Facebook after hearing of her death from the internet. She too said she was “absolutely fine” and asked people not to share any news without verifying it first.

Just over a month later, actor Tauseeq Haider found out he and actor Farah Saadia had ‘married’ according to pictures going around on social media.

The two made a joint statement announcing they were both still “happily single” and asked the creators of the AI-generated images to send them wedding gifts.

On November 10, Indian film star Dharmendra was killed off by the country’s media while he was hospitalised — but still very much alive. The actor passed away a couple of weeks later, on Nov 24.