SBS (034120) drama "Doctor X: Era of the White Mafia" is on a tear. Ratings opened at 11.4% for the first episode and climbed to 18.5% by the fourth, and the show also took the top spot among Netflix's non-English TV shows. At the center of its success is Kye Soo-jung, a genius surgeon who takes satisfying aim at corruption inside the hospital. Her flawless surgical skill, almost artificial-intelligence-like in its precision, delivers an overwhelming thrill to viewers. But look away from the screen and over to YouTube, and an entirely different set of doctors dominates. Dressed in white coats with stethoscopes around their necks, they dispense health tips — yet these are people who do not exist. They are "fake doctors" churned out by AI.
Their reach is already serious. According to data released by Rep. Park Yong-gap of the Democratic Party of Korea at a parliamentary audit of government agencies on the 20th of this month, 42 of the top 100 YouTube videos on senior health in April this year were AI-generated. Of those, 24 impersonated real doctors, while only six of the 100 videos overall featured a genuine expert. The videos also spread false claims such as the assertion that diabetes can be cured simply by eating frozen blueberries. YouTube has now become a lifeline for information among older adults as well. According to a survey by the Korea Press Foundation last year, the share of people aged 70 and over who watch online video has already passed 50%.
The rise of AI fake doctors ultimately comes down to money. In March this year, a YouTube channel that used AI to mimic the voice of professor Lee Cook-jong drew 40,000 subscribers in just one week. In June, authorities caught a company that put an AI doctor in its advertising and sold ordinary food products as if they were a miracle anti-aging remedy. Their revenue came to 8.1 billion won (about $5.6 million).
AI can be a tool that lowers the barrier to medical information. But if someone trusts only the words of an AI fake doctor and misses the golden hour for treatment, the harm cannot be undone. The genius doctor in the drama saves lives with AI-like perfection, while the AI fake doctors on YouTube threaten health. However far technology advances, AI cannot replace trust and responsibility for human life.