Fake Doctors are Selling You Supplements | AI Influencers
The New York Times recently came out with a video stating that they found hundreds of AI-generated “doctors,” “healers,” and wellness influencers on various social media platforms telling American consumers how great various supplements are for you, encouraging people to try them out. These AI influencers in the wellness sphere are specifically targeting older women, making false claims about weight management, pain reduction, and even medical treatment.
The videos show realistic-looking people, some even made to look like doctors, holding up the supplements, praising the effects, and showing their results after taking the supplement for an extended period of time. Many display older women claiming to be 60+ but looking 20+ years younger, telling users they can have the same age-reversing transformation if they take the supplements.
One woman, Pamela Wundrow, decided to purchase supplements off one of these AI influencer ads, after hearing it described as all-natural + helpful for joint pain, inflammation, and fatigue. After taking the supplement for months, it was recalled by the brand following related cases of salmonella. Wundrow luckily didn’t experience salmonella symptoms, but she did express feeling worse rather than better since taking the supplement.
This is just a subset of predatory AI influencers flooding the internet. Many anonymous, online-only LLCs + companies from overseas are using AI-generated personas to advertise their products, pulling on people’s heartstrings and taking advantage of their goodwill (or naivete) by making up emotional backstories for their businesses.
While the concept of AI-generated people being used in advertising *at all* is bad enough, entering into the wellness industry is a whole new level of predatory + gross. The worst part is that there are no federal restrictions surrounding AI influencers or “synthetic performers” in advertisements, so many of these accounts don’t disclose that the “people” in their videos aren’t real.
Lily Isaacs writes, “they cultivate authenticity, showing daily routines, personal struggles, stories of divorce, motherhood and ageing, all designed to make followers feel they know the person behind the account,” for The Observer. Particularly with the rise in consumer trust in influencer marketing, it’s no surprise that users would consider buying a product after seeing that multiple “influencers” are promoting it.
New York has become the first state to enact a law that requires disclosure when advertisements include AI-generated “synthetic performers.” This law is an attempt to protect consumers + boost transparency in the advertising industry. It went into effect on June 9, 2026, prompting Amazon to begin requiring third-party sellers to label any photos or videos featuring AI-generated people for similar reasoning.
TikTok + Meta claim that they remove videos + advertisements from AI influencers when misleading or inaccurate health information is included, but more than a few slip through the cracks + don’t get taken down because of the massive volume of videos being uploaded each day.
Much like the systems that are supposed to check videos for this manipulative content, we are overwhelmed by the amount of AI on the internet (+ irl, *ahem* AI-generated posters *ahem*) right now. We’re getting to a point where it *is* genuinely difficult sometimes to tell if a video or photo is AI-generated or not. Of course, there are loads that are obviously fake, but if it’s at the point now where some can trick even people with quite high media literacy, always on alert against AI media, susceptible groups are sure to be falling for it far more often.
AI disclosure is going to become more + more important as they get more + more realistic looking. Personally, we think others should follow in New York’s footsteps + require people to clearly label any AI-generated content – particularly when vulnerable populations are being targeted + taken advantage of.
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