Nikon photography contest winner loses title after scientists spot telltale signs of AI-generated footage

What happened

Tech Culture AI science competition Nikon photography contest winner loses title after scientists spot telltale signs of AI-generated footage Microscopic structures appearing from nowhere were among the clues that raised suspicions By Rob Thubron October 12, 2026, 7:46 Add TechSpot Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. Ning Xu, from Tsinghua University in China, whose video captured tiny cilia beating in the airways of a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia, a rare respiratory disorder.

Nikon's 16th annual Small World in Motion contest is open to any movie or digital time-lapse photography taken through the microscope. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust .

A hot potato: It seems that the once-popular trend of entering AI-generated content in competitions made for humans hasn't gone away. The winner of one of the world's most prestigious scientific photography awards has just had his title stripped from him after his entry was determined to have been created using AI.