AI's research blunder: How a mistake sparked a chain of flawed scientific papers. Can artificial intelligence be trusted

[eppur_se_muova]

AI’s research blunder: How a mistake sparked a chain of flawed scientific papers. Can artificial intelligence be trusted in academia?

ET OnlineLast Updated: Mar 09, 2025, 08:22:00 PM IST

In an era where artificial intelligence is shaping nearly every aspect of human life, its growing influence on academic research is raising serious concerns. A viral video from Instagram account @brokenscienceinitiative has ignited debate after exposing how an AI-generated mistake led to a cascade of flawed research papers—nearly two dozen, to be exact.

What began as a simple misinterpretation by AI spiraled into a shocking example of the dangers of unchecked automation in academia. The mistake, buried deep within scientific literature, went unnoticed by peer reviewers, raising an unsettling question: Is AI eroding the research aptitude of scientists and the credibility of academic publishing?
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Flawed Research at an Alarming Scale
The revelation has sparked outrage, with many questioning how a basic AI error could spread so widely in the supposedly rigorous world of academia. Even more alarming is the suggestion that the mistake may have been amplified by paper mills—fraudulent organizations that churn out research papers for profit without proper review.

"This incident highlights a growing issue—unchecked use of AI in academic research," the viral video’s narrator warns. "A simple AI misinterpretation spiraled into nearly two dozen questionable studies, proof that the peer review process is failing and the replication crisis is alive and well."
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more: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/ais-research-blunder-how-a-mistake-sparked-a-chain-of-flawed-scientific-papers-can-artificial-intelligence-be-trusted-in-academia/articleshow/118821229.cms?

[erronis]

1. More context for this interesting story.

From the article:

A Case of Academic Telephone Gone Wrong
The controversy began when scientists noticed a peculiar phrase appearing in multiple published papers: vegetative electron microscopy. On the surface, it seemed like an advanced technical term, but experts quickly realized—it made no sense.

The bizarre phrase was first flagged on PubPier, an online research forum, by a Russian chemist using the pseudonym Paralabrax Clathratus. However, it was software engineer Alexander Magazinov who traced the error back to a single AI-generated mistranslation from a 1959 scientific paper.

The original phrase was electron microscopy of vegetative structures—a well-established method for studying plant tissues like leaves and roots. But due to AI's inability to properly interpret text spanning multiple columns, the words were jumbled together into an entirely new and nonsensical term. The error slipped through the cracks of peer review and was unknowingly repeated across nearly two dozen published studies.

Flawed Research at an Alarming Scale
The revelation has sparked outrage, with many questioning how a basic AI error could spread so widely in the supposedly rigorous world of academia. Even more alarming is the suggestion that the mistake may have been amplified by paper mills—fraudulent organizations that churn out research papers for profit without proper review.

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