The news: Hundreds of AI-generated doctors and fake wellness influencer ads are promoting health products and supplements on social media, often making misleading or dangerous miracle-cure claims targeting older women, according to a recent investigation by The New York Times.

Digging into the details: The scam ads target people with health conditions and frequently feature fake doctors and Eastern medicine experts displaying fabricated credentials, per the NYT. For example, some ads falsely claim that over-the-counter (OTC) supplements outperform prescription medications for certain diseases. In one case, an older woman with an autoimmune condition purchased a supplement called Rosabella Moringa after seeing a misleading Facebook endorsement. She later discovered some pills were contaminated and said her health worsened while taking the supplement.

Why it matters: These ads would be illegal on US television, as noted by the NYT, where OTC health product ads must be truthful, not misleading, and substantiated by reliable scientific evidence. Online, however, enforcement is far more difficult. Regulators struggle to keep pace with the volume and speed of AI-generated content. TikTok told the NYT that it removes and bans ads with false health claims, while Meta labels AI-generated ads on Facebook and Instagram. Even so, the pace of AI content creation makes it impossible to catch every fake ad in real time.

Bogus online health ads are becoming more common as AI makes it cheap and easy to create convincing fake doctors and wellness influencers. Prior reports from the NYT and Reset Tech found that thousands of deceptive health product ads targeting EU consumers are flooding platforms like Facebook, while AI-generated deepfakes impersonate doctors and other medical experts to promote unsafe products and spread unreliable medical information.

Implications for healthcare marketers: Even before AI, OTC supplement ads often relied on vague health language like "supports immune health," making it difficult for consumers to understand what was scientifically proven and what was marketing. Now, AI-generated content is making it hard for consumers, especially older generations, to tell fake ads from legitimate ones.

Credible health brands should partner with legitimate healthcare creators to teach people how to spot the "tells" of fake ads and misleading health claims. Greater awareness could make deepfakes and impersonation campaigns less effective and reduce consumers' willingness to trust and purchase products promoted through fraudulent content. It could also give physicians a stronger incentive to maintain an online presence as trusted educators, helping fill the information vacuum that impersonators increasingly exploit.

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