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Scientists have questioned a prize-winning video presented as showing cilia in a child’s airways. Its creator says AI helped visualise images but did not generate the footage.
What has changed? · 01/10/2026, 08:33 UTC
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Nikon is reviewing a winning entry in its Small World in Motion scientific video competition after scientists questioned whether it was made with generative AI [1]. The video, submitted by Dr Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in China, was presented as showing hair-like cilia moving inside the airways of a child with a rare disease [1].
Critics pointed to shapes and movements they considered inconsistent with normal cell structures, and cilia they said looked too large. Edward Phelps, an associate professor, said some structures appeared and disappeared. Ian Donovan, a PhD student at UT Southwestern Medical Centre, said a source image appeared to contain a watermark suggesting AI generation [1].
In a response to a Nikon LinkedIn post, Xu said he had used AI to distinguish and visualise features in reconstructed greyscale images, but not to generate the experimental video, the cilia or their movement. He said his entry complied with the contest rules [1].
Nikon said it saw no rules violation at the time of its statement. It said Xu was cooperating with the review and had supplied further technical documents, and that it would provide an update [1].
2 listed sources · explore evidence, limitations and provenance.
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