(WKYT) – Gov. Andy Beshear said his office has still not heard from Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office following the senator’s hospitalization last month, as calls for transparency grow from both sides of the aisle.
McConnell was taken to the hospital on June 14. Over the weekend, the senator shared a health update along with a photo, breaking nearly a month of public silence.
Beshear calls for more communication
Beshear said the people of Kentucky deserve more information about the senator’s condition and his path back to office.
“With all the speculation — and there’s been a ton — the fastest way to end all of it is calling in to a news station if you’re otherwise taking calls, putting out a video or two, which all of us do in office,” Beshear said.
“It’s the people of Kentucky that just deserve to see a little bit more and hear a little bit more about how the senator is doing and what the steps are for his return in office,” he added.
McConnell has not been cleared to return to the Senate floor.
UK law professor weighs in on AI photo concerns
Since McConnell’s photo and statement began circulating on social media, some questioned whether the image was AI-generated. Michael Murray, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law who focuses on artificial intelligence, said he does not see markers caught by the human eye indicating the photo is AI-generated.
Murray cautioned, however, that increasingly convincing AI content poses a broader threat to public trust in visual media.
“There’s a great possibility that we’re going to ruin the power of visual imagery everywhere — that no one is going to believe their eyes, that everyone is going to get a newsfeed or whatever the situation and they’re going to automatically discount it,” Murray said.
Murray said the best way to determine whether a photo is AI-generated is to obtain the original image and check its metadata.