President Donald Trump's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator made comments about rural health care on Monday that caused a stir online.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former television presenter and author, said during an event for the "Action for Progress" initiative, which addresses mental health and addiction, alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that rural communities would benefit from having AI avatars stand in for doctors. He made the comments at a time when the Trump administration has passed a law to dramatically reduce funding for rural hospitals, many of which are already suffering from understaffing issues.
"There's no question about it, whether you want it or not ... the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars," Oz said.
The doctor's comments caused quite a stir online.
"Dr. Oz is absolutely evil. He's openly targeted the Armenian-American community, and he's also trying to shove AI medical quackery down our throats," writer Aaron Apollo Camp posted on Bluesky.
"Dr. Replika will see you now," writer David Futrelle posted on Bluesky.
"We could create more primary care providers in an instant by letting nurse practitioners fully practice in every state, but these grifters would rather spend your money on chat bot docs," public health communications professional Justin Gero posted on Bluesky.
"This is a bit like the time Betsy DeVos said rural kids 'in one of the Dakotas' could do their English Lit classes from listening to Great Books online while driving their tractors," former Congressional candidate Josh Cowen posted on Bluesky.