Jan 24, 2026 03:33 AM
Science Is Drowning in AI Slop
https://archive.ph/4eweT
EXCERPTS: For more than a century, scientific journals have been the pipes through which knowledge of the natural world flows into our culture. Now they’re being clogged with AI slop. Scientific publishing has always had its plumbing problems. [...] But the editors and unpaid reviewers who act as guardians of the scientific literature are newly besieged. Almost immediately after large language models went mainstream, manuscripts started pouring into journal inboxes in unprecedented numbers...
[...] Given that it’s so easy to publish on preprint servers, they may be the places where AI slop has its most powerful diluting effect on scientific discourse. At scientific journals, especially the top ones, peer reviewers like Quintana will look at papers carefully. But this sort of work was already burdensome for scientists, even before they had to face the glut of chatbot-made submissions, and the AIs themselves are improving, too. Easy giveaways, such as the false citation that Quintana found, may disappear completely. Automated slop-detectors may also fail. If the tools become too good, all of scientific publishing could be upended... (MORE - details)
Lithium mining study is retracted despite authors’ protests
https://cen.acs.org/research-integrity/L...eb/2026/01
EXCERPT: . . . earlier this month, the journal retracted the paper, prompting one of the study authors to claim that parties with vested interests in mining projects are responsible for the move.
Rio Tinto welcomes the decision. “The original paper misrepresented scientific principles and presented incomplete and inaccurate data, deliberately fueling misinformation and misleading the Serbian public,” Chad Blewitt, Rio Tinto’s managing director for the project, says in a statement.
Blewitt’s statement continues: “This decision is a clear reminder of the harm caused when false information is presented as science. Jadar is one of the most studied lithium deposits in the world and has been designated as a strategic project by the European Union. The retraction reinforces the critical need for fact-based dialogue and transparency in responsibly assessing opportunities for critical minerals development.” (MORE - details)
https://archive.ph/4eweT
EXCERPTS: For more than a century, scientific journals have been the pipes through which knowledge of the natural world flows into our culture. Now they’re being clogged with AI slop. Scientific publishing has always had its plumbing problems. [...] But the editors and unpaid reviewers who act as guardians of the scientific literature are newly besieged. Almost immediately after large language models went mainstream, manuscripts started pouring into journal inboxes in unprecedented numbers...
[...] Given that it’s so easy to publish on preprint servers, they may be the places where AI slop has its most powerful diluting effect on scientific discourse. At scientific journals, especially the top ones, peer reviewers like Quintana will look at papers carefully. But this sort of work was already burdensome for scientists, even before they had to face the glut of chatbot-made submissions, and the AIs themselves are improving, too. Easy giveaways, such as the false citation that Quintana found, may disappear completely. Automated slop-detectors may also fail. If the tools become too good, all of scientific publishing could be upended... (MORE - details)
Lithium mining study is retracted despite authors’ protests
https://cen.acs.org/research-integrity/L...eb/2026/01
EXCERPT: . . . earlier this month, the journal retracted the paper, prompting one of the study authors to claim that parties with vested interests in mining projects are responsible for the move.
Rio Tinto welcomes the decision. “The original paper misrepresented scientific principles and presented incomplete and inaccurate data, deliberately fueling misinformation and misleading the Serbian public,” Chad Blewitt, Rio Tinto’s managing director for the project, says in a statement.
Blewitt’s statement continues: “This decision is a clear reminder of the harm caused when false information is presented as science. Jadar is one of the most studied lithium deposits in the world and has been designated as a strategic project by the European Union. The retraction reinforces the critical need for fact-based dialogue and transparency in responsibly assessing opportunities for critical minerals development.” (MORE - details)