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  • NATURE INDEX

Illustrators call out journals and news sites for using AI art

Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.
By
  1. Kamal Nahas

    1. Kamal Nahas is a freelance science journalist based in Oxford, UK

Last year, a figure generated by artificial intelligence (AI) made it past peer review despite featuring gibberish text and a rat with enormous testes1. The scientific community took to social media to pan the paper, leading the journal concerned to retract it2. Yet scientists continue to turn to bots to make cover art and figures, and professional illustrators are expressing concern over the hasty adoption of AI.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01527-9

Nature Index’s news and supplement content is editorially independent of its publisher, Springer Nature. For more information about Nature Index, see the homepage.

References

  1. Guo, X., Dong, L. & Hao, D. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 11, 1339390 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Frontiers Editorial Office Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 12, 1386861 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

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