All of the figures in the article were developed using artificial intelligence, according to the Telegraph. Not only are they absolutely nonsensical in any scientific sense, but they also appear to show a rat with a massive penis and four testicles.
Frontiers thanked “concerned readers” who contacted staff following the article publication, but many are voicing concerns over how the article was up on the site in the first place. Along with the ridiculous figures, the article used words like “dissilced” and “testtomcels” and other made up garbage.
“Of course, we can have a good laugh at these figures, and wonder how on earth the handling editor and the two peer reviewers didn’t catch this,” Dr. Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist who also works to spot issues with scientific papers, said, according to the Independent. “But the paper is actually a sad example of how scientific journals, editors, and peer reviewers can be naive in terms of accepting and publishing AI-generated crap. These figures are clearly not scientifically correct, but if such botched illustrations can pass peer review so easily, more realistic-looking AI-generated figures have likely already infiltrated the scientific literature.”
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