The AI fitness instructors selling unreal gains

A BBC Sport investigation finds misleading adverts for fitness apps that use AI-generated instructors to make exaggerated claims. By Katie Gornall , BBC Sport correspondent and Sarah Dawkins , BBC Sport senior journalist If you use social media you've probably seen them - polished fitness videos promising dramatic body transformations in weeks. A BBC 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. To sell a subscription to a fitness app.

So how easy is it to tell whether the person giving fitness advice exists? 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 BBC featured AI‑generated characters claiming to have followed workout programmes themselves. Once users engage with exercise or fitness content, algorithms quickly flood their feeds with similar material. "People are looking for solutions to their health, their fitness, their looks," he says.

"You can't turn [AI content] off," Prof Miah says. "That feeds false hope and creates damaging expectations." The BBC contacted the companies behind several of the adverts found to be problematic. Many of the adverts seen by the BBC contained different AI characters but similar messaging. He has worked in the fitness industry for 30 years - long before social media, let alone artificial intelligence. Fairlamb, 54, believes AI has its place in fitness programmes and nutrition, but says it cannot fully replace real-life coaching.

When shown the AI‑generated adverts that breached advertising rules, his reaction is immediate. It's so misleading. You've got no chance." Fairlamb recently started working alongside his daughter Georgia Sybenga, 25, who says even people who grew up around social media struggle to tell what is real. For young lads, for their mental health, it's really concerning." Sybenga also warns AI‑generated fitness programmes do not have the full picture. We judge them on whether they're misleading or likely to be harmful," Adam Davison, the ASA's director of data science, tells BBC Sport.

AI tools make it easier to generate advertising quickly for social media, and sometimes by people less familiar with advertising rules than traditional companies, says Davison. "If you're not being careful to review the content that's coming out of those tools then it's very easy to have something misleading ending up being posted." Social media companies say AI‑generated content should always be labelled, but the BBC found multiple examples where disclaimers were hidden, unclear or missing. Many users the BBC spoke to said they would welcome the option to opt out of AI‑generated content entirely. is where perhaps regulation needs to step in." A BBC Sport investigation finds misleading adverts for fitness apps that use AI-generated instructors to make exaggerated claims. The AI fitness instructors selling unreal gains