Household name TV doctors have been "deepfaked" in videos promoting health scams, according to a research study.

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) found AI-generated videos falsely featuring UK TV doctors, including the late Michael Mosley, Hilary Jones and Rajan Chatterjee, endorsing products for blood pressure and diabetes, and selling items such as hemp gummies.

Designed to exploit the trust many people have in health experts, many of the videos were discovered on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and frequently resurfaced despite efforts to remove them.

The finding highlighted ongoing concerns about the use of AI for scams and the apparent inability of major social media platforms, including Meta, to detect and control their spread.