Does an authentic video show Elon Musk promoting a Barbara O'Neill remedy for erectile dysfunction and prostatitis? No, that's not true: Two AI detection tools found that the video was likely manipulated using AI technology. Lead Stories has found other AI-generated endorsement videos for O'Neill, an unregistered health practitioner.
The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on December 21, 2024. The voice in the video, attributed to Elon Musk, opened:
The recent decision by the FDA to ban millions of boxes of medications like Viagra, Cialis, and other treatments for prostatitis and erectile dysfunction is a step taken to protect consumers' health.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Dec 23 19:25:52 2024 UTC)
Created using AI
AI detection tool TrueMedia found "substantial evidence" that the voices in the video were generated using AI technology. The tool made its decision with "100% confidence." A screenshot included below shows the results of the test:
(Source: TrueMedia screenshot taken on Mon Dec 23 19:58:30 2024 UTC)
DeepFake-o-meter, another AI detection tool, also determined it has 99.7 percent likelihood to be generated using AI for "Lip-synced Deepfake Detection":
(Source: DeepFake-o-meter screenshot taken on Tue Dec 24 00:49:04 2024 UTC)
Barbara O'Neill
O'Neill, a self-described alternative medicine practitioner, was sanctioned by Australia's New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in 2019. A statement from the HCCC, following an investigation, said:
The Commission is satisfied that Mrs O'Neill poses a risk to the health or safety of members of the public. The Commission therefore makes the following prohibition order:
- Mrs O'Neill is permanently prohibited from providing any health services, as defined in s4 of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993 (the Act), whether in a paid or voluntary capacity.
Lead Stories has previously fact checked a video of O'Neill promoting a prostatitis remedy and found it was likely created using AI technology. We have also debunked other videos that use celebrities' voices to endorse supposed Barbara O'Neill remedies. Those fact checks are here and here.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Elon Musk can be found here. Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Barbara O'Neill can be found here.
