Forty percent of the most popular health videos on TikTok are made by artificial intelligence (AI), not real people, according to research published July 27, 2026, by a company called Hallam. For some searches, the share is even higher: 84% of results for "health tips" were AI-generated or AI-assisted (The Guardian).

Hallam looked at 1,198 videos and checked the top 50 results for searches like "health tips" and "doctor advice." The top AI-made doctor and health videos averaged 2.5 million views each.

The fake doctor accounts in Hallam's study spread claims that have already been proven false, including that microwaving food in plastic containers, using deodorants, and sleeping next to a phone cause cancer. Medical studies have shown these claims are not true.

Top UK doctors responded with concern. Dr Emma Runswick, deputy chair of the British Medical Association council, told The Guardian that the accounts "peddle medical myths and promote so-called miracle cures." She said platforms like TikTok must do more to stop dangerous fake medical advice or "the public could pay with their health or lives."

Prof Frankie Swords, national medical director at NHS England, said it was concerning to see a rise in online medical misinformation. Prof Victoria Tzortziou Brown, president of the Royal College of GPs, said misleading AI content carried a "real risk" of harm. Alex Ruani, a health misinformation researcher at University College London, called the spread of AI doctor videos a "frightening amount of exposure to fake medical content" and "industrialised exploitation of trust."

TikTok removed the specific AI doctor videos that The Guardian sent to the platform for review. A TikTok spokesperson disagreed with Hallam's findings, calling the research the work of "a marketing agency with commercial interests" and saying it does not accurately reflect the platform. The spokesperson said TikTok removes harmful health misinformation, including AI-generated content.

The scale of exposure matters. A poll by a company called Savanta, done for Healthwatch England, found that roughly one in five people in England use social media for health information. That means a large share of the population is using platforms where AI-generated medical advice now shows up in top search results.

This is not a one-time problem. In April 2026, AFP FactCheck reported that AI-generated videos, some pretending to be UCLA medical professionals, were spreading false health claims across social media (AFP FactCheck). The Canadian Medical Association also looked into the issue in its 2026 Health and Media Tracking Survey, which examined AI-generated doctors giving doubtful health advice (CMA).

The broader context here is that three trends are feeding off each other. AI tools can now create realistic-looking fake doctors at almost no cost. TikTok's recommendation system shows people videos that get a lot of engagement, even if the information is wrong, because sensational or scary health claims get more clicks. And many people rely on social media as their main source of health information instead of talking to a real doctor. Think of it like a factory assembly line: AI makes the fake doctors, the algorithm delivers them to millions of viewers, and there is no real medical professional checking if the advice is safe.

What makes this different from older forms of online health misinformation is how easy and convincing the production is. One person can create dozens of AI doctor accounts, each giving confident-sounding medical advice in a video that looks like a real doctor talking to the camera. The Hallam data, with AI content in 40% of top results and averaging 2.5 million views, shows how common these fake videos have become.

So far, the medical community has condemned the videos and called on platforms to act. TikTok says it removes harmful content case by case and that Hallam's research does not reflect its platform. But this leaves an open question: can removing videos one at a time keep up with AI content designed to avoid detection? TikTok took down the specific videos The Guardian flagged, but Hallam's findings suggest the problem goes beyond individual videos to how search results are put together.

For doctors, public health officials, and regulators, the stakes are clear. Patients who follow AI-generated medical misinformation may delay real treatment, try harmful remedies, or lose trust in actual medical advice. The BMA, NHS England, and the Royal College of GPs have each said the current situation is unacceptable. Whether that leads to new rules for platforms, labels on AI content, or other changes is now up to policymakers.