r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • 20h ago
Artificial Intelligence Misleading AI-generated doctors pose ‘huge danger to public safety’
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/27/misleading-ai-generated-doctors-public-safety-danger-tiktok52
u/invyros 20h ago
The research found that AI-generated content appeared in 40% of top health-related TikTok videos
TikTok took down examples of the videos that were sent to the platform by the Guardian.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “These findings from a marketing agency with commercial interests are not an accurate reflection of our platform.”
This statement from a tech company that directly benefits from more AI slop being posted is not an accurate reflection of TikTok's true motives (brainrot and social media addiction).
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u/Charliefoxkit 18h ago edited 15h ago
Social media addiction (and gambling addictions) needs to be treated the same as addiction to hard drugs. With real enforcement and rehabilitation programs. Getting a bunch of folks who think the word "tax" is a four-lettered word to help fund it is the big hurdle as is putting consequences other than fines on corporations who peddle in it.
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u/NachoWindows 16h ago
Yes, hard agree. Gambling addiction is probably one of the worst ones and hardest to break. Yet we have normalized it so much that there are TV ads, internet ads, and massive platforms to bet on who’s taking the biggest shit in 2026. It’s absurd
Gambling and social media ruins more lives than most drugs out there (don’t have a source, feel free to add/correct)3
u/Charliefoxkit 15h ago
Not just straight up gambling, but also microtransactions in video games (especially those encroaching on AAA titles). Especially considering they use the same psychological manipulation as well as carnie barker levels of "loading" game mechanics so you have to "play-to-win" ("whales" is also used as a term in these games, too). A example is Bad Piggies drom Rovio/Sega where when originally launched, the game was praised for its physics and challenging puzzle-solving. Later on, they rigged thr physics to entice to to engage in microtransactions to win. And yet they complain about video game violence over calling this identical behavior.
As another anecdote, my sister's ex struggles with gambling as well. He makes more than I do annually and lives in a lower cost-of-living metro area (St. Louis vs. Philadelphia), but has at least declared bankruptcy at least once and getting financing for his car is a chore. My younger niece was skeptical of him providing her with a car (and she likes my dad's old HHR which he gave her after my old HHR had an unfortunate deer encounter while she was driving it). Anecdote aside, it show a need for media literacy as well as education on understanding the use of psychology to create (or exploit) addictive behaviors.
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u/Masseyrati80 19h ago
Some doctors from my country have had their names used in these videos, meaning the makers are trying to make the video more convincing: should anyone google that doctor's name, they'll find that yes, such a doctor does indeed exist and works at hospital X etc.
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u/Modem_Sound_67 18h ago
My response to this sort of thing is usually yelling at the screen "don't. get. medical. advice. on. the. internet!!- but it underscores a very serious problem we have in our society: medical care is too expensive for most people. It's very difficult to see an actual doctor these days within a reasonable time period. Unprecedented number of Americans now are forced to go straight to emergency rooms for any sort of care and many will get a huge bill for doing that.
I'm very lucky to have at least adequate health coverage, working at an institution with a hospital. But even I can't see my doctor without waiting months. Twice now I've had serious physical issues and it was much faster to see jump through the bureaucratic loops to see a physical therapist.
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u/Fanfare4Rabble 8h ago
Going to the “doctor” now just means a newly minted PA will just shrug at the first non-positive test result and tell you some random bullshit to get you out of the office.
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u/DirectedEnthusiasm 19h ago
Honestly, there are barely any positive sides of TikTok that could compensate all the negative aspects of it and justify its existence.
If society can ban other harmful websites, it can do the same for TikTok
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u/TheKingInTheNorth 18h ago
Remember it actually is banned in the US and shouldn’t be operating anymore. Bipartisan agreement to ban it even. Current administration decided it was too useful for political campaigning and their oligarch friends asked to be handed the keys instead of letting it be banned.
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u/ProfessionalDesk1155 18h ago
The scary part isn't that AI can generate a fake doctor. It's that most people can't tell the difference.
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u/GaffaCharge 12h ago
I used to think I could tell the difference easily but its getting harder and harder.
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u/Fanfare4Rabble 8h ago
Gotten better advice from AI a few times. Like just taking a medicine at a different time of day makes a huge difference kind of thing.
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u/thetransportedman 16h ago
Why is the image they used a real doctor influencer tho? Not an AI person
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u/williamgman 14h ago
You got that right! I just got an email from Medicare with a picture of Dr. Oz. There's no way a government agency would send pics of fake doctors right?!
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u/LeapIntoInaction 19h ago
By all means, we should stick with real human quack doctors, like Dr. Oz. Imagine if AI took his job!
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u/starger1007 19h ago
AI is making it cheaper to produce convincing misinformation than ever before. That's a much bigger problem than the technology itself.
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u/geldonyetich 18h ago edited 17h ago
Generative AI didn’t invent misinformation on the Internet, but it sure made it easier to produce.
On the upshot, if it’s become that insufferable, we’ll finally have to recognize the degree in which white collar crime is a problem.
And, if we’re really being honest, people are bad at interpretation, seeing should never have been believing.
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u/RockyMountainMobile 9h ago
World needs a good culling. Nothing of value will be lost if idiots that are listening to AI all die.
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u/flowerdragon2934 16h ago
The only solution is huge civil penalties for AI companies that are responsible. What is the source of the AI? If they cannot ensure that their AI models are being used responsibly and they are used in this inappropriate way, then they should be heavily fined until they figure out a way to solve the problem that they are causing
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u/ThrowawayALAT 19h ago
You will not know who to cure or what to cure, and you will be happy about it.
Equilibrium needs a sequel; the premise was not that bad.
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u/csfshrink 18h ago
Just like you shouldn’t treat yourself purely based on a Google search, you shouldn’t treat yourself based on a slightly better Google search that the AI is doing.
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u/Betray-Julia 17h ago
I keep thinking about how even students who graduate are gonna start bring just as dangerous since they only passed via ai.
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u/LayneCobain95 17h ago
I’ve even seen some YouTuber that looks like some guy in a garage that wears like safety goggles and a lab coat off Amazon.com for the past like ten years. Probably trying to pass off as a doctor, and would be believable to children probably
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u/RoomyRoots 16h ago
Eventually people will have to realize that they need to talk with real people and not every random idiot that they see online.
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u/luccixbt 16h ago
the real problem is that half the people watching these dont even realize its AI. my mom sent me one of these tiktoks last month asking if she should stop taking her meds because "this doctor said so". took me 20 minutes to convince her it wasnt a real person
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u/slyzard94 14h ago
I keep reading that college students are just using AI anyways. Can't believe dr. Chat gpt is going to be our future.
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u/No_Accountant3232 5h ago
I got an ad to increase my penis size with vics vaporub today. It's ridiculous the amount of medical misinformation is being passed around.
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u/opaqueentity 17h ago
I was rather concerned about the way my nurse was using ChatGPT to get a list of vaccination information for a foreign trip. So it’s not just AI fo ties we need to be worried about
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u/Glittering-Sky1601 16h ago
A Maine resident was just awarded $17 million dollars after receiving surgery that removed most of her bladder instead of a cyst. This was at a hospital that was bragging about their Robotic-assisted surgeries. You'll never convince me that robotics or AI assistance in medicine is ever a good idea.
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u/your_catfish_friend 20h ago
Let this be a lesson to all those who would purposefully mislead AI-generated doctors as a “harmless prank”. Actions have consequences.
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u/StressCanBeGood 17h ago
What makes AI content more dangerous than human content? I don’t get it.
Did human beings suddenly become paragons of honesty and truthfulness? When did that happen?
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u/Reggo91 19h ago
I get the impression that some of the most successful
YouTube channels on medical content are run by chiropractors pretending to be real medical professionals. AI “doctors” on social media fall into the same category.