AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media
EL.KZ Информационно-познавательный портал
TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation, El.kz reports citing the Guardian.
All the deepfakes involve real footage of a health expert taken from the internet. However, the pictures and audio have been reworked so that the speakers are encouraging women going through menopause to buy products such as probiotics and Himalayan shilajit from the company’s website.
The revelations have prompted calls for social media giants to be much more careful about hosting AI-generated content and quicker to remove content that distorts prominent people’s views.
Prof David Taylor-Robinson, an expert in health inequalities at Liverpool University, is among those whose image has been manipulated. In August, he was shocked to find that TikTok was hosting 14 doctored videos purporting to show him recommending products with unproven benefits.
The fake Taylor-Robinson recommended that women in menopause should visit a website called Wellness Nest and buy what it called a natural probiotic featuring “10 science-backed plant extracts, including turmeric, black cohosh, Dim [diindolylmethane] and moringa, specifically chosen to tackle menopausal symptoms”.
Female colleagues “often report deeper sleep, fewer hot flushes and brighter mornings within weeks”, the deepfake doctor added.
The real Taylor-Robinson discovered that his likeness was being used only when a colleague alerted him. “It was really confusing to begin with – all quite surreal,” he said. “My kids thought it was hilarious.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We have removed this content [relating to Taylor-Robinson and Selbie] for breaking our rules against harmful misinformation and behaviours that seek to mislead our community, such as impersonation.
“Harmfully misleading AI-generated content is an industry-wide challenge, and we continue to invest in new ways to detect and remove content that violates our community guidelines.”
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