Misleading AI-generated doctors pose ‘huge danger to public safety'
An AI-generated ‘doctor’ dispenses medical advice on TikTok. A new wave of fake physicians often promote debunked claims and misleading health advice for profit as part of a wider challenge of AI-generated misinformation in health content.
The Guardian
Misleading health claims online pose a “huge danger to public safety”, experts have warned, after research has shown that AI-generated doctors are gaining millions of views on TikTok by spreading dubious health advice.
The British Medical Association council deputy chair, Dr Emma Runswick, flagged the risks posed by AI accounts that “peddle medical myths and promote so-called miracle cures”.
“Platforms like TikTok must do more to stop the rise of dangerous fake medical advice … otherwise, it is the public who could be paying the price with their health and perhaps even their lives,” she added.
AI-generated physicians were found to have spread disproven myths about cancer, including that microwaving food in plastic, using deodorants and sleeping next to your phone could all cause cancer – all claims which have been refuted by Cancer Research UK.
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