Deepfake videos impersonate doctors to promote dangerous treatments
AI-generated deepfake videos of well-known doctors are circulating on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, promoting dangerous and untested medical treatments while impersonating real physicians to exploit their credibility. Experts warn the scams risk endangering lives, particularly among older audiences, and the videos rapidly reappear after removal.
What happened
AI-generated deepfake videos of famous doctors appear on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok promoting dangerous treatments and unproven remedies for serious health conditions. The videos use synthetic video technology to impersonate doctors' likenesses and voices.
Videos advertise untested 'natural' syrups for diabetes and falsely claim the proven diabetes drug metformin 'could kill' patients. Other deepfakes depict doctors selling false high blood pressure cures, weed gummies, and pills claiming to 'clean blood vessels'. Some videos falsely claim controversial remedies can treat cancer.
Videos impersonating doctors Michael Mosley, Hilary Jones and Michel Cymes have been reported. The deepfakes also misuse the likenesses of controversial figures including researcher Didier Raoult and naturopath Barbara O'Neill. Doctor Hilary Jones said that even after deepfake videos are removed, they reappear the next day under different names.
Reported impact
Experts warn these scams risk endangering lives by leveraging the credibility and trustworthiness that famous doctors have built over time. Older audiences are particularly targeted by the deepfake videos.
French doctor Michel Cymes filed legal action against Meta in May 2024 regarding scams using his image. British doctor Hilary Jones hired an investigator to track deepfakes impersonating him.
Index analysis
AI expert Henry Ajder stated that doctor deepfakes 'really took off this year'. The deepfakes typically impersonate doctors who regularly appear on daytime television, targeting older audiences.
AI expert Frederic Jurie explained that advances in generative AI have made deepfake videos far more convincing, with algorithms able to model and regenerate visual content from billions of available images.
Governance controls
Experts are not optimistic about using newly developed AI detection tools to combat deepfakes. According to AI expert Frederic Jurie, 'this is a game of cat and mouse', and experts suggest using technologies that 'guarantee content has not been tampered with' through digital signatures rather than trying to identify every false video.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.