Nikon names new Small World in Motion winner after AI disqualification

Nikon has named Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam as the new winner of its Small World in Motion competition, a decision that follows the disqualification of the previous winner, Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in China. Nikon's investigation concluded that Xu's entry, which captured tiny cilia beating in the airways of a child with a rare respiratory disorder, did not comply with the competition's rules.

The disqualification stems from allegations regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of the video. According to a BBC report, some researchers raised concerns that Xu's video displayed structural abnormalities, with cell features appearing and disappearing in ways inconsistent with actual cellular biology. Additionally, observers noted what appeared to be AI watermarks embedded within the source files. In response to the allegations, Xu stated that he used AI "to distinguish and visualize features in the reconstructed grayscale images," but he denied using AI to generate the experimental movie, the cilia, or their motion.

With Xu removed from the rankings, other competitors moved up in the standings. Benedikt Pleyer of Bavaria, Germany, placed second with a video featuring jellyfish larvae suspended in water droplets. Andrew Moore of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the United States took third place for a video showing coordinated mitosis across adjacent cells. Patrick Hickey of Hypha Research Ltd. in Edinburgh, Scotland, placed fourth with a video documenting the dynamics of mitochondria and chloroplasts in Turtle Vine leaf cells. Igor Adameyko finished fifth with a video of a tiny, colorful sea slug identified as Cyerce kikutarobabai on the move.

The Nikon Small World in Motion competition was founded in 2011 as a spinoff of the company's Small World Photomicrography Competition, which has been running since 1974. Both events are designed to showcase the beauty and complexity of things seen through the light microscope. While the photomicrography competition focuses on still photographs, the in Motion category utilizes photovideography to take advantage of technological advances that allow users to create movies or time-lapse images through a microscope.