Evan X. Merz

I recently posted about a strange video I found on social media where an Amish guy pets a fat man's belly and boils a weird home remedy. This video caught my eye because asceticism is something I'm thinking and writing about right now. The Amish, and other groups who abstain from some modern technology, are practicing a form of asceticism where, by living a simpler life, they are trying to live a more spiritual life. This is what gives influencers like Beiler Mast an air of authenticity and makes their advice seem more plausible.

A month after writing that blog post I checked my Google Analytics search results, and noticed that the query "is beiler mast a real person" was now the top query for my blog. This confused me, because I only watched the one video from the guy. He seemed real enough to me. I still wouldn't take medical advice from him.

So why were so many people searching for whether or not he was real?

TLDR: Beiler Mast is (probably) AI generated

Well, I spent some time looking at his videos, and I will show the proof below if you want to read on, but the TLDR is this: Beiler Mast is likely an AI bot who is being used to sell supplements.

Evidence that Beiler Mast is AI generated

All you really need to do is watch a few of this guy's videos to see that they are AI generated. When you watch them, pay attention to a few things.

1. Intonation of the voice. Does the intonation of his voice convey emotion and meaning using intonation, or is the voice flat and emotionless?
2. Background activity. Does the background look and act like the background of a video recorded in reality, or does the background repeat in weird ways?
3. Location consistency. Are the videos recorded in consistent locations, or are the locations slightly different each time?

I made a YouTube video to show the issues with his videos.

Is Beiler Mast a real person?

Is Beiler Mast a real person? Probably not. I can say for certain that most of the content on his Instagram page is AI generated. Does that mean that he's not a real person? Not for certain.

Beiler Mast's social media videos are generated by starting with a single image, then using AI to create clips of audio and video that are edited together to form full videos. Hypothetically, it could be that the starting images are real, and the text of the videos is written by him, then AI is just used to generate the videos. But this seems extremely unlikely to me.

If this guy is real, then he has an absolutely massive house and/or farm, with many different stoves, many different fireplaces, and many different barns. It's very unlikely, although not totally impossible.

I want to clarify one common misconception about the Amish and other similar sects, however, because some people might watch his videos and think that he can't be real because he's an Amish person using a video camera and lighting and editing software. Amish people, and similar sects, are not hardline luddites. The various religious sects that abstain from some modern technology do not abstain from ALL modern technology. Also, different Amish people may choose to adopt some modern conveniences or not. There is a wide range of technology use among Amish people, so don't think that him using technology inherently means he's not real.

But I want to end this post by pointing out that his videos are not good medical advice.

Beiler Mast is not a reliable source for health advice

Beiler Mast is not a doctor. Don't take the advice on the amishremedies Instagram page seriously.

When you go to his Instagram profile, you see a few things. The text says "Beiler Mast | Amish farmer", and it claims to be dispensing "Amish Traditions & Remedies". It contains only one link. That link goes to a page that sells beetroot supplements.

The Beravia Health website looks a lot like a supplements scam. It pushes the hard sell with a banner that says "DEALS ENDING MIDNIGHT" and "SELLING OUT FAST". This is an attempt to get desparate people with unexplained health conditions to make a purchase before they realize that the salesperson is not trustworthy.

Also notice the price. Beets are extremely cheap from the grocery store. If you really think you need something that is in beets, then go buy them from the grocery store. Don't pay hundreds of dollars for a company to grind them into dust and put them into capsules.

Now, it's important to note that none of this appears to be illegal. This is a company selling supplements using an AI persona. I don't think this violates any laws at all.

It just looks a lot like the supplement scams that are extremely common on the internat.

I don't know anything about Beravia Health and the quality of their products. Maybe they're great. According to WebMD, Beetroot DOES have some health benefits. I can't say anything about Beravia Health.

What I can say is that Beiler Mast is most likely an AI generated persona, and not a trustworthy source for health advice.