The detection was carried out through the Health with Science program of the Ministry of Health, which monitored content published between January 1 and July 10 of this year.

According to Agência Brasil, the information was also forwarded to the Federal Police and the Federal Council of Medicine.

Based on the results, the Attorney General's Office of the Union notified Google, YouTube's owner, to demand the removal of the identified content or the adoption of measures to warn users about its artificial nature.

The procedure establishes a 72-hour deadline for the platform to remove the flagged materials or, as applicable, add labels and contextualization indicating that the characters were generated in that manner.

The analyzed profiles feature human-looking avatars posing as doctors or other health specialists.

In some cases, the characters are given nonexistent professional titles and qualifications while using alarmist language to lend greater credibility to their claims.

According to the Ministry of Health, part of this content is aimed at elderly people, a segment that may be more vulnerable to messages appearing to come from specialized professionals.

The fake specialists are also used to promote products, e-books, and paid services, exploiting the supposed medical authority of the virtual characters to attract consumers.

Among the risks identified by authorities are self-medication, the use of therapies with no proven efficacy, delays in seeking professional care, and the abandonment or replacement of treatments prescribed by doctors.

This government action takes place amid growing international concern over the use of artificial intelligence tools to produce realistic-looking audiovisual content and attribute false statements to people who never actually made them.

In Brazil, the problem takes on a particular dimension when these tools are used to convey supposed medical recommendations, due to the consequences that may arise from adopting treatments without scientific backing.

Brazilian authorities urged the public to distrust promises of miracle cures and to seek information on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment from official sources and licensed professionals.