Tag: Healthcare provider

Posted on

Opinion: It looks like your doctor and talks like your doctor. But it’s not your doctor

Imagine a patient who arrives at her doctor’s clinic furious. She shows her doctor a video of him — white coat, plausible exam room, familiar cadence — endorsing an over-the-counter hormone supplement for menopausal symptoms, dismissing standard therapies as “pharma scams,” and offering a discount code.

But the physician never recorded that message. Someone built a deepfake from online recordings, including interviews, webinars, and patient-facing videos, and used the synthetic likeness to sell an unregulated product. This scenario is no longer hypothetical. Investigations have documented AI-generated videos impersonating specific clinicians whom they name to promote supplements and other dubious treatments on major platforms. 

Read the rest…

Posted on

Development and Formative Evaluation of a Narrative-Based Serious Game for Pregnancy Education: Mixed Methods Study

Background: Serious games are increasingly used in professional health education and maternal health promotion. However, most pregnancy-related digital interventions target specific behaviors and do not provide a comprehensive, longitudinal simulation of the pregnancy journey that incorporates psychosocial and administrative aspects. Objective: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a narrative-based serious game that simulates the chronological course of pregnancy and to assess its perceived educational usefulness, accessibility, and user acceptance across multiple platforms. Methods: We developed a 9-chapter interactive serious game covering pregnancy recognition, partner communication, public health consultation, mid-pregnancy and late-pregnancy checkups, and home preparation for childbirth. The game was collaboratively created by a pediatrician, 6 medical students, and a student illustrator using a low-cost visual novel engine (TyranoBuilder). It was released in April 2025 on iOS, Android, and Steam. A voluntary, anonymous postgame survey was conducted between April 2025 and January 2026. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize survey responses and platform analytics. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shinshu University Hospital. Results: A total of 65 users completed the postgame questionnaire. Most respondents were aged 10 to 19 years (38/65, 58.5%) and female (55/65, 84.6%). Nearly half of the participants (30/65, 46.2%) completed the game within 1 hour. Gameplay evaluation scores (5-point Likert scale; 3=neutral or appropriate) were balanced: game length (mean 3.37, SD 0.96), difficulty (mean 2.84, SD 0.85), and interactivity (mean 3.31, SD 1.10). Educational outcomes were rated highly (5-point Likert scale; higher=more favorable): reduced anxiety (mean 3.84, SD 0.96), perceived educational usefulness (mean 3.98, SD 1.02), perceived knowledge acquisition (mean 4.06, SD 1.06), story empathy (mean 3.80, SD 1.11), and overall satisfaction (mean 4.05, SD 1.04). Across all platforms, the game achieved 925 cumulative downloads. iOS and Android downloads were predominantly from Japan, whereas Steam downloads were geographically diverse. Of the 21 Steam reviews, 20 (95.2%) were positive. Conclusions: A serious pregnancy education game developed through a low-cost clinician-student collaborative model demonstrated high perceived educational usefulness, balanced gameplay characteristics, and broad user acceptance, including substantial engagement among teenagers and international users. Narrative-based serious games represent an accessible and scalable approach to maternal health education. Further research using more rigorous evaluation designs is warranted to assess long-term educational and behavioral impacts.
<img src="https://jmir-production.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/thumbs/e2f36ab34de77d0bdb26718b9c29b61f" />

Posted on

The Download: a donor conception cap and world models for AI

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Sperm donors need limits, says a European fertility group

Ties van der Meer doesn’t know how many siblings he has. The 47-year-old was conceived at a private fertility clinic using sperm from an anonymous donor. He eventually tracked down one sibling, but he may have others he’ll never find. 

Other donor-conceived people have found they have tens or even hundreds of them. “It does make you feel a bit mass-produced,” said one who discovered they had 25 half-siblings.

In response, a European fertility organization says we need international limits on the number of children a single donor can contribute to. 

Find out what their proposal could achieve—and where it may fall short. 

—Jessica Hamzelou

This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.

How will AI understand the real world?

LLMs have transformed what AI can do with language, but helping machines understand and operate within physical spaces presents a different challenge. In response, researchers are developing a new form of artificial intelligence: world models.

At a LinkedIn Live event tomorrow, MIT Technology Review will explore how this technology could shape the future of robotics and open one of AI’s next major frontiers. Join Will Douglas Heaven, our senior editor for AI, and Sam Sinha, founding AI researcher and head of world models at 1X Technologies, for the conversation on Tuesday, July 14. 

Register here to attend the free session at 9:30 PDT, 12:30 PM EDT, and 5:30 PM BST. 

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Apple has sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets
OpenAI purportedly stole IP to develop its own consumer hardware. (CNBC)
+ The suit claims OpenAI poached Apple staff to access the information. (BBC)
+ And requested trade secrets in job interviews with Apple workers. (Guardian)
+ Apple also sued two former employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan. (Reuters $)

2 A Nobel-winning chemist is leaving the US to lead an AI lab in China
Omar Yaghi will head an institute using AI to discover new materials. (LA Times $)
+ He won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating “molecular sponges.” (NYT $)
+ His departure comes as China tries to woo US scientists. (Nature)
+ The White House has slashed science spending. (MIT Technology Review)
 
3 The EU is moving closer to banning children from social media
It’s proposed barring under-13s unless supervised by an adult. (NYT $)
+ And limiting access for older children. (Bloomberg $)
+ The EU has also told Meta to disable autoplay and infinite scroll. (Politico $)
 
4 Meta scrapped an AI image feature on Instagram after a backlash
It allowed users to generate images based on public accounts. (TechCrunch)
+ And automatically opted in any Instagram user with a public account. (NYT $)
+ AI memories are privacy’s next frontier. (MIT Technology Review)
 
5 Phoebe Gates’ shopping app claimed credit for sales it didn’t drive
Phia claimed unearned affiliate sales through fake clicks. (Bloomberg $)
+ Cofounder Gates is the daughter of Microsoft cofounder Bill. (Engadget)
 
6 Leaked police drone footage exposes the new reality of surveillance
Hours of San Francisco Police video were accidentally released. (Wired $)
+ Surveillance from drones is on the rise in the US. (MIT Technology Review)
 
7 Over two-thirds of Americans back a Sanders-style AI ownership plan
A poll found strong support for public ownership of AI stock. (Gizmodo)
+ Tech firms have their own takes on the idea. (MIT Technology Review)

8 AI may soon make campaign text messages more potent—and irritating
AI platforms are training bots to sound like political candidates. (NPR)

9 An orbiting disco ball gave Einstein’s theory its most precise test yet  
It measured Earth’s twisting of space-time more precisely. (Rest of World)

10 Australia’s biggest radio hit may be the product of GenAI
Musicians are questioning how the song was made. (Guardian)

Quote of the day

“LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.” 

—A text message sent by former Apple engineer Chang Liu to a colleague, which a new lawsuit alleges was part of a scheme to steal hardware IP for OpenAI.

One More Thing

view of an unmanned sub from the nose
Colombian military officials intercepted this 40-foot-long uncrewed fiberglass “narco sub” in the ocean just off Tayrona National Park.
CARLOS PARRA RIOS


How uncrewed narco subs could transform the Colombian drug trade

On a bright April morning in 2025, a surveillance plane operated by the Colombian military spotted a 40-foot-long “narco sub” idling in the Caribbean Sea. The stealthy vessel, used by drug cartels to move cocaine north, could sail with its hull almost entirely underwater.

After seizing the boat, the coast guard noticed something unusual: there was no one on board. This was Colombia’s first confirmed uncrewed narco sub, operable by remote control, but also capable of a degree of autonomous travel.

Uncrewed subs could move more cocaine over longer distances, and they won’t put human smugglers at risk of capture. Find out how they may transform the drug trade.

— Eduardo Echeverri López

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)

+ Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” has been reinvented as a yacht rock track.
+ Two super-puff planets lighter than cotton candy have been spotted floating through space.
+ An inventor has given Tic Tac fans (like Donald Trump) a solution to the box’s annoying rattling in their pockets.
+ Imbibe a dose of adrenaline with this first-person footage of a rider on heart-pounding Red Bull Genova Cerro Abajo.