Respected Journal Withdraws Article with A.I. Gibberish

Last month the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology published an article on the function of stem cells associated with rat testes. Despite the rigors of a peer review and multiple levels of checks, the paper was published with AI-generated illustrations that are downright bizarre.

The text of the article, “Cellular functions of spermatogonial stem cells in relation to JAK/STAT signaling pathway,” written by three Chinese researchers from Xian, was fine. But the accompanying images featured a rat with absurdly proportioned genitals, and labeled with gobbledygook such as “iollotte sserotgomar cell” and “testtomcels.”

The authors said they used the generative AI tool Midjourney to create the images. According to the journal’s publisher, at least one of the reviewers questioned the wacky figures and asked for revisions prior to publication. Although the authors did not respond, the article was published anyway.

The paper spent three days online before the journal retracted it and issued a (quasi) mea culpa. “Our investigation revealed that one of the reviewers raised valid concerns about the figures and requested author revisions,” the editors explained online. “The authors failed to respond to these requests. We are investigating how our processes failed to act on the lack of author compliance with the reviewers’ requirements.”

It’s all very humorous, but it also raises alarms about the trustworthiness of scientific institutions that should be above reproach. As Elisabeth Bik, the writer behind Science Integrity Project writes, “The paper is actually a sad example of how scientific journals, editors, and peer reviewers can be naive – or possibly even in the loop – in terms of accepting and publishing AI-generated crap. These figures are clearly not scientifically correct, but if such botched illustrations can pass peer review so easily, more realistic-looking AI-generated figures have likely already infiltrated the scientific literature. Generative AI will do serious harm to the quality, trustworthiness, and value of scientific papers.”

Yes. Not to mention the many talented illustrators the world over who are losing work to this kind of fraud.