"I Thought They Were Doctors, but They Were AI": YouTube's Two Faces as Money Pours In

Four in 10 Health Videos Are AI-Generated
Some Also Impersonate Medical Experts
Revenue Concentrated Among the Top 10%

Videos featuring fake doctors created with artificial intelligence (AI) and sharing health information are spreading on YouTube, raising concerns about harm to older adults. Videos that pose as real medical professionals and provide health information have ranked among the most-viewed, putting the reliability of AI-generated content under scrutiny. Meanwhile, as the one-person media market, including YouTube, grows rapidly and generates more revenue, voices are calling for caution against creating content focused on views and monetization.

As the market for solo media, including YouTube, grows rapidly and generates greater revenue, some are warning against content creation focused too heavily on views and monetization. The Asia Business Daily

An analysis of data submitted by the Korea Health Promotion Institute to Park Yonggap of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, found that 42 of the 100 most-viewed YouTube videos related to “senior health” posted in April were produced using generative AI. In particular, 24 videos were found to impersonate medical professionals, including actual doctors.

Some videos used the names of fake experts as their channel names or were staged to make it appear that the experts had treated patients in real medical settings. In some cases, the videos lacked a notice that they had been made using AI. These videos have raised concerns because they could convey false health information to older adults, who tend to trust statements made by medical professionals. There is also the risk of harm to viewers’ health, such as missing the appropriate time to seek medical care if they use unverified information in their health management or treatment.

Concerns Grow Over Harm to Older Adults from the Spread of False Health Information

According to a recent “Health Information Awareness Survey” conducted by the Korea Health Promotion Institute, 45.4% of respondents in their 60s said they look up health information at least once a week. Internet portals were the most common source of health information, at 49.7%, followed by YouTube at 14.4%. With a significant number of older adults getting health information online, questions have also been raised about whether oversight of AI videos impersonating experts has been adequate.

According to a recent Health Information Awareness Survey conducted by the Korea Health Promotion Institute, 45.4% of respondents in their 60s said they look up health information at least once a week. Photo is unrelated to the specific content of the article. Pixabay.

The Korea Health Promotion Institute can recommend that content producers or platforms take voluntary measures to address harmful health information. However, it had relied on self-monitoring and encouraging voluntary compliance, and had never requested that a video be removed. After Park raised the issue, Google Korea reviewed 100 videos from 51 channels and shut down 10 channels that violated YouTube’s guidelines. It also removed 31 videos posted on those channels.

AI labels were also applied to 13 videos that did not disclose that they were AI-generated, and monetization was suspended for 10 videos across five channels. As monetization was actually suspended for AI videos that impersonated experts, attention is growing not only on YouTube’s content moderation but also on its monetization system.

One-Person Media Corporations Report KRW 1.1134 Trillion in Revenue

The one-person media industry, including YouTube, has grown rapidly in recent years, establishing itself as a vast revenue market. According to tax data on “one-person media creators, including YouTube,” submitted by the National Tax Service to Jeong Taeho of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Finance and Economy Planning Committee, on the same day, 2,024 corporations in one-person media-related industries filed corporate tax returns for 2025, reporting total revenue of KRW 1.1134 trillion.

The one-person media industry, including YouTube, has grown rapidly in recent years, establishing itself as a massive revenue market. Pixabay

There were 207 corporations with annual revenue of at least KRW 1 billion, accounting for only about 10% of the total. However, their reported revenue was KRW 842.7 billion, or 76% of the total. By contrast, the remaining 1,817 corporations reported KRW 270.7 billion in revenue, just 24% of the total. High-revenue corporations are also growing rapidly in number. The number of corporations with annual revenue of at least KRW 1 billion rose 9.4-fold, from 22 in 2021 to 207 in 2025. Over the same period, their reported revenue increased 13.3-fold, from KRW 63.6 billion to KRW 842.7 billion.

The share of total reported corporate revenue accounted for by high-revenue corporations also rose by 16 percentage points, from 60% in 2021 to 76% in 2025. The one-person media market is expanding rapidly in scale as well. The number of active sole proprietors rose 3.8-fold, from 9,633 in 2021 to 36,604 in 2025, while the number of active corporations increased 2.7-fold over the same period, from 1,167 to 3,182.

Total gross business income reported by sole proprietors whose primary business is in a related industry nearly doubled, from KRW 796.7 billion for tax year 2021 to KRW 1.6236 trillion for tax year 2024. One key reason opportunities to generate revenue through platforms are expanding is that video production has become easier with the use of AI. This has increased the need to prevent false or exaggerated information from circulating as creators seek views and monetize their content. The National Tax Service is also stepping up tax verification to keep pace with the expanding one-person media market. It checks income based on foreign-currency receipt data related to YouTube ad revenue, Super Chat, Super Thanks, and channel memberships. The agency says it compares and analyzes this information against value-added tax and income tax returns to verify whether businesses suspected of failing to file or underreporting income have filed accurately.

Meanwhile, as the one-person media market has grown into a new industry, platforms are increasingly expected not only to ensure transparent taxation of revenue but also to create an information environment that users can trust. There are growing calls, particularly regarding information directly related to health, to prevent the impersonation of experts and the spread of false information, and to apply stricter standards for labeling AI-generated content and monetizing it.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.