The AI fitness instructors selling unreal gains

Breaking news from the world of sport: The AI fitness instructors selling unreal gainsImage caption, A picture of three AI fitness instructors that our research identifiedByKatie Gornall, Sport correspondent and Sarah Dawkins, Sport senior journalistPublished16 minutes agoIf you use social media you've probably seen them - polished fitness videos promising dramatic body transformations in weeks. They show chiselled physiques, striking before‑and‑after images and claims that you can look years younger by following a simple routine. The results often look too good to be true.

In many cases, they are. A investigation has uncovered misleading fitness adverts featuring AI‑generated characters that breach UK advertising rules. Many adverts also failed to make clear that the people featured were not real.

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And why were they doing it? To sell a subscription to a fitness app. So how easy is it to tell whether the person giving fitness advice exists?

'Hard to tell who to believe'AI content has flooded social media feeds in the past couple of years, and videos promoting exercise and online fitness programmes are becoming increasingly common. Many of the adverts flagged to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) by the featured AI‑generated characters claiming to have followed workout programmes themselves. They also show transformations experts say are scientifically implausible in such short timeframes.

The videos promise users they can change their bodies in weeks, "look 20 years younger", or "lose 40lb in one month". Once users engage with exercise or fitness content, algorithms quickly flood their feeds with similar material. Prof Andy Miah, an AI expert from the University of Salford, says the trend is "huge" and those scrolling are drawn in because they are looking for advice.

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"People are looking for solutions to their health, their fitness, their looks," he says. "There's always been an appetite for that kind of content - but now it's incredibly hard to tell who to believe. "Unlike human influencers, AI characters can produce content endlessly, and users cannot opt out.

"You can't turn off," Prof Miah says. "It's impossible to stop your feeds being proliferated with this material. "He accepts there are many positive aspects to AI, but describes the current landscape as a "wild west" in terms of regulation and says some ads could be harmful.

"The claims about how quickly you can make gains are completely unrealistic," he says. "That feeds false hope and creates damaging expectations. "The contacted the companies behind several of the adverts found to be problematic.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.