正文 · AI 翻译
IT Home reported on October 10, citing BBC coverage, that Nikon has disqualified the work originally awarded first prize in the 2026 Small World in Motion microscopy video competition because it “did not comply with the competition’s rules concerning generative AI.” Under the updated rankings, the entry by Vietnamese contestant Nguyen Nam Nhat has moved into first place.
IT Home learned that the originally winning video was submitted by Dr. Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in China. The video purported to use super-resolution microscopy to show abnormal movement of cilia in the airway of a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).
Subsequently, however, several experts in microscopy and cilia research raised questions on social media, saying the structures in the video did not match real PCD samples. Some purple structures in the video appeared or disappeared suddenly, some green cilia seemed to appear out of nowhere, and the sizes of the structures did not match known biological structures.
In response to the questions, Dr. Ning Xu acknowledged using AI technology in producing the video. He explained that AI was used to distinguish and visualize features in the original grayscale microscopy images, and that he had previously believed this approach complied with the competition rules. However, he denied using AI to generate the experimental video itself, the cilia structures, or the cilia movements. After reinvestigating, Nikon ultimately determined that Xu’s entry did not comply with the competition’s rules on generative AI and decided to revoke his first-place award.
With Dr. Ning Xu’s entry disqualified, Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam, who had originally placed second, is now the 2026 Nikon Small World in Motion champion. His entry records an interaction between a tiny nematode and the single-celled organism Dileptus in the microscopic world. The rankings of the other shortlisted entries have also moved up accordingly.