Nikon disqualifies microscopy contest winner for undisclosed AI use in post-processing

Nikon’s Small World in Motion contest, which recognizes microscopic videos, stripped the first-place award from Dr. Ning Xu after the entrant acknowledged using generative AI for post-processing. The video had claimed to depict cilia moving in the airway of a child with the respiratory condition PCD.

In a LinkedIn comment, Dr. Xu stated that an unsupervised neural-network method was used for AI-assisted post-processing to distinguish and visualize features in reconstructed grayscale images from super-resolution optical imaging.

Nikon said the video “did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI” and removed it from the contest rankings. The company also noted that the disqualification “should not be interpreted as a judgment of the entrant’s professional reputation, scientific contributions, or intent.”

The decision followed online skepticism about the video’s authenticity, prompting Nikon to review its rules and evaluation procedures for future competitions.

A new first-place winner, Nguyen Nam Nhat, has been named as a result of the disqualification, according to the updated rankings.