Michael Mosley 'deepfake' warning as late doctor’s likeness used in sham footage

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Social media scammers are exploiting the late Dr Michael Mosley's fame to peddle dubious health products.The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has uncovered alarming AI-generated 'deepfake' videos of Dr Mosley, alongside Hilary Jones and Rangan Chatterjee, which have emerged on social media platforms, as reported by the Telegraph.These fabricated clips show the TV doctor, who tragically passed away on the Greek island of Symi in June, endorsing a variety of suspect products, from blood pressure and diabetes treatments to hemp gummies.Retired doctor John Cormack commented: "The bottom line is, it's much cheaper to spend your cash on making videos than it is on doing research and coming up with new products and getting them to market in the conventional way." Henry Ajder, a deepfake specialist, notes that recent advancements in artificial intelligence have led to a "significant increase" in such deceptive practices, reports the Mirror.

Deepfake videos have been around for some time, with notable instances including spoof Minecraft videos featuring fake 'Nigel Farage' and 'Sir Keir Starmer' playing pranks on each other ahead of the general election.Yet, these technologies have also been weaponised for more nefarious ends, such as by Russia to exploit politically unstable regions and war zones, and by criminals to craft "deeply violating" counterfeit sexual imagery.Taylor Swift fell victim to a deepfake porn campaign in January, with reports of a user on X (formerly known as Twitter) sharing fabricated images of the pop icon in compromising positions during a football game.The scandal led Jeff Pedowitz, CEO of The Pedowitz Group and author of 'AI Revenue Architect', to demand tighter regulation and a more "ethically responsible