AI-Generated Junk Science Is Flooding Google Scholar, Study Claims [Video]

A new study claims to have uncovered a disturbing trend in the world of academic research: AI tools like ChatGPT being used to produce fake scientific papers that are infiltrating Google Scholar, one of the most widely used academic search engines.

These AI-generated studies, often indistinguishable from legitimate research, are spreading across academic databases and repositories, raising concerns about the integrity of online scientific literature.

The research, published in the Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, identified 139 papers suspected of being generated by AI tools. Notably, more than half of these questionable studies focused on policy-relevant topics, including health, environmental issues, and computing technology.

“The public release of ChatGPT in 2022, together with the way Google Scholar works, has increased the likelihood of lay people (e.g., media, politicians, patients,students) coming across questionable (or even entirely GPT-fabricated) papers and other problematic research findings,” wrote the paper’s authors.

Newsweekhas contacted Google via email to …