GoKawiil
Tech News
Nikon Instruments disqualified Ning Xu's winning entry in its Small World in Motion microscopy video competition after determining the submission involved generative AI. A contest spokesperson confirmed the disqualification to Gizmodo, citing the use of AI as the reason the entry was ruled ineligible.
Nikon has stripped Dr Ning Xu of Tsinghua University of his Small World In Motion prize after ruling his winning video breached contest rules on generative AI. The video depicted cilia movement in a child with the respiratory condition PCD, but several scientists, including former judges, publicly questioned its authenticity. Nikon said the decision followed a re-evaluation of the footage and consultation with its judging panel, and does not reflect on Xu's professional standing.
Nikon has stripped Dr. Ning Xu's video of its first-place win in the Small World in Motion microscopy contest after determining it violated rules on generative AI use. The video had purported to show cilia movement in a child's airway affected by PCD, but Xu acknowledged using an AI-based post-processing method to generate the imagery. Nguyen Nam Nhat's entry now holds the top spot following the update.
Ning Xu, an optical engineer at the National University of Singapore, won Nikon's 2024 Small World in Motion competition for a video of cilia from a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia. Microscopy experts subsequently questioned the video on social media, saying the red, purple and blue structures shown beneath the cilia appear biologically implausible and may have been produced or altered using an AI tool. The competition's blog post on the winning entry did not describe or explain these colored structures.