AI-generated unbalanced rat reproductive organs published in peer-reviewed journal

magazine editor Frontiers of cell and developmental biology The paper was retracted after a reader pointed out that the supporting images were inappropriately generated by an AI image generator. In the retraction, the editors report that the reason for the retraction was “due to concerns raised regarding the nature of the AI-generated numbers.”

The paper included research on stem cells in small mammals, and the authors included images depicting rat anatomy that were apparently created by an AI system. In one photo, a rat appeared to have a penis and testicles that were larger than the rest of its body, something that does not occur in nature. The accompanying text was also difficult to understand. Another image showed a rat cell that did not resemble the actual structure of a rat cell.

Unbalanced images in papers could further fuel the ongoing debate in the scientific community over the use of AI in generating text and images in technical papers, especially those published in established journals.

In this case, it is not clear how such a problematic image got published in a peer-reviewed journal. The authors, a joint team from China’s Honghui Hospital and Jiaotong University, made no attempt to hide the fact that they used AI to create the images. They even praised Midjourney’s accomplishments.

Some media outlets have pointed out that frontier has a policy of allowing the use of AI-generated materials as long as the use is made public, which was the case here. However, the policy also states that attempts must be made to fact-check anything produced by such systems, which was clearly not the case in this mix-up.

editor of frontier Initially, they published a note in the paper claiming that the article had been revised and a new version would be published soon. Shortly thereafter, the paper was retracted.

The mistakes made by the authors of the paper and the team at the journal that approved it for publication are likely the first of many to come, but to prevent such mistakes from happening in the future It is not yet clear what changes will be necessary.