A weird phrase is plaguing scientific papers – and we traced it back to a glitch in AI training data

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 19:05:19 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/a-weird-phrase-is-plaguing-scientific-papers-and-we-traced-it-back-to-a-glitch-in-ai-training-data-254463>

"Earlier this year, scientists discovered a peculiar term appearing in
published papers: “vegetative electron microscopy”.

This phrase, which sounds technical but is actually nonsense, has become a
“digital fossil” – an error preserved and reinforced in artificial intelligence
(AI) systems that is nearly impossible to remove from our knowledge
repositories.

Like biological fossils trapped in rock, these digital artefacts may become
permanent fixtures in our information ecosystem.

The case of vegetative electron microscopy offers a troubling glimpse into how
AI systems can perpetuate and amplify errors throughout our collective
knowledge."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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