PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1680630
This article is part of the Research TopicDigital Health MisinformationView all articles
A surge of AI-driven publications: the impact on health professionals and potential mitigating solutions
Provisionally accepted
Guglielmo Arzilli1
Elisa Di Maggio2*
Luigi De Angelis1Francesco Baglivo1
Elena Savoia3,4
Gaetano Pierpaolo Privitera1Caterina Rizzo1- 1Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- 2Hygiene Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
- 3Emergency Preparedness Research Evaluation & Practice Program (EPREP), Division of Policy Translation & Leadership Development, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States
- 4Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States
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The rapid development of generative AI is reshaping scientific communication, particularly in medicine and public health. Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, Large Language Models have become widely accessible, supporting manuscript editing, statistical analysis, and rapid evidence synthesis. However, this surge in AI-generated content raises concerns about the quality, reliability, and ethical implications of scientific publishing. Increased reliance on AI-driven authoring tools could exacerbate an 'infodemic' - an overwhelming flood of potentially unreliable or misleading information. This risk is exacerbated by the prevailing "publish or perish" culture, which prioritizes publication volume over meaningful contributions. In addition, the proliferation of academic journals, especially those that charge high publication fees, deepens inequalities in global health research and limits access for low-income countries. Documented cases of fabricated articles and false authorship in predatory journals highlight how AI can be misused, threatening evidence-based medicine and influencing healthcare decisions. To address these challenges, regulatory frameworks, ethical guidelines, and widespread digital literacy training for researchers and health professionals are critical. A balanced approach - harnessing the efficiency of AI while safeguarding scientific integrity - is needed to prevent an AI-driven infodemic and ensure the equitable, high-quality dissemination of medical knowledge.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence in Health, scientific integrity, AI-generated Publications, HealthProfessionals' Education, Ethical Guidelines in Research
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 09 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Arzilli, Di Maggio, De Angelis, Baglivo, Savoia, Privitera and Rizzo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Elisa Di Maggio, Hygiene Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
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