Nikon disqualified the video that originally won first place in its Small World in Motion contest. The company stated the submission violated rules regarding generative AI.
Dr Ning Xu admitted using artificial intelligence
The BBC reported that the winning video from Dr. Ning Xu claimed to show tiny hair-like structures called cilia moving in the airway of a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Nikon began reviewing the video last week following skepticism online about its authenticity. Dr. Xu admitted to using AI for the project in a LinkedIn comment.
Dr. Xu stated that an unsupervised neural network method was used for AI assisted post processing. The technique helped distinguish and visualize features in reconstructed grayscale images from super resolution optical imaging.
Nikon updated the contest rankings
Dr. Xu's video has now been disqualified and removed from the Nikon website. A video from Nguyen Nam Nhat holds the first place spot according to updated contest rankings.
Nikon announced plans to revisit rules and evaluation procedures for future competition entries following the incident.
The company noted in its official statement that disqualifying the video should not be interpreted as a judgment of the entrant's professional reputation, scientific contributions, or intent.
