Health care professions: deceptive terms or letters: artificial intelligence.

Assembly Member Bonta's legislation extends California's prohibitions on deceptive medical credentials to artificial intelligence systems, addressing growing concerns about AI technologies that could mislead patients about the nature of their medical care. The measure adds new provisions to the Business and Professions Code governing how AI and generative AI systems can represent their capabilities in healthcare settings.

The bill prohibits AI systems from using terms, letters, or phrases that suggest their outputs come from licensed healthcare professionals. This applies both to the advertising of AI tools and their actual functionality. Healthcare licensing boards would oversee enforcement, with authority to pursue injunctions and other remedies against developers or deployers of non-compliant AI systems. Each instance of prohibited terminology would constitute a separate violation.

Under the new requirements, entities developing or implementing healthcare AI must ensure their systems do not imply that automated analyses, recommendations, or communications originate from human clinicians with professional credentials. The measure builds upon existing state laws requiring AI-generated patient communications to carry clear disclaimers and provide contact information for human healthcare providers.