Nikon Re-Reviewing Small World Contest Winner Over AI Concerns

Nikon is reviewing the first-place winner of its 2026 Small World in Motion Competition following online complaints from the microscopy community alleging the use of artificial intelligence. The contested submission, created by researcher Dr. Ning Xu, features a microscopic video depicting the abnormal beating of airway cilia in a child diagnosed with primary ciliary dyskinesia, a rare genetic disorder, usatoday.com reported.

Nikon Re-Reviews Winning Entry After Online Backlash

The annual competition accepts movies and digital time-lapse photography captured through a microscope, holding rules against the use of AI-generated video entries. After the winning video was published on the competition website and LinkedIn account in September 2026, scientific observers challenged its authenticity. Additional criticism came from academic researchers who scrutinized the visual behavior of the cells. Edward Phelps, an associate professor at the University of Florida, stated on LinkedIn that certain biological structures in the footage failed to behave as expected, noting that cilia appeared to pop in and out of existence. Meanwhile, Ian Donovan, a PhD student at UT Southwestern Medical Center, claimed the source file contained a SynthID watermark identifying synthetic or AI-generated content, cnn.com reported. BBC.com noted that two former competition judges also expressed concerns regarding the video’s authenticity.

Dr. Ning Xu Defends Post-Processing Techniques

Dr. Ning Xu, who was affiliated with Tsinghua University when the entry was submitted and has since joined the National University of Singapore as a research fellow, defended his work in the comment section of the Nikon announcement. Xu stated that artificial intelligence was not used to generate the experimental movie, the cilia, or their movement. Instead, he explained that algorithms were applied afterward to reconstructed grayscale data in order to distinguish and color structures sharing similar morphologies for a visually engaging presentation. Xu maintained that a clear boundary exists between using images for scientific claims and employing visualization to communicate the aesthetic appeal of scientific data. Nikon confirmed that Xu is cooperating with the evaluation, providing technical documentation that details his microscopy equipment, imaging methods, and processing techniques.

Dispute Over Competition Rules and Transparency

Shawn Reeves, director of the American Association of Physics Teachers High School Physics Photo Contest, asserted in a LinkedIn comment that entrants should prioritize transparency over winning. Conversely, Nikon stated that it stands by its procedures and has found no explicit rule violations so far, though the company promised an update to the Small World community following the re-review process.

Pending Final Verdict From Contest Organizers

Nikon has not yet announced a definitive timeline for concluding its re-evaluation of the first-place prize, and neither Nikon nor Dr. Ning Xu responded to further inquiries regarding the final outcome of the review.