Using AI-Generated Media of Children with Medical Conditions to Fundraise for a Pediatric Hospice

This commentary explores the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to create “medical child media” (MCM) for pediatric palliative care fundraising, highlighting both its promise and ethical complexity. Traditionally dependent on charitable donations, palliative care organizations often use emotionally charged images of real children to evoke public empathy. In a Canadian hospice campaign, AI-generated images were tested as an alternative, offering diverse, realistic depictions of illness, care, and family life while protecting patient privacy. Before learning the images were AI-generated, viewers described them as authentic and emotionally powerful—but reactions turned to disappointment once the truth was revealed, raising concerns about emotional authenticity and comparisons to exploitative “poverty porn.” Despite these mixed perceptions, the authors note GenAI’s potential to safeguard dignity and consent, prompting reflection on whether real patients’ suffering must continue to be publicly exposed to sustain funding for essential pediatric palliative care.