A research team invented a fake disease to see if AI would disseminate and promote it as legit medical information. Several AI platforms not only did, but it was subsequently cited in peer-reviewed medical literature. From the journal Nature last week: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01100-y Lead researcher Almira Thunstrom fabricated an eye condition named Bixonimania, caused by too much blue light exposure, and causing hyperpigmentation on the eyelids. The team posted 2 fake study articles on the professional Preprints.org server in 2024.  They included MANY other clues: * fake scientists/names at a fake university in a fake city * acknowledgment to a professor at the Starfleet Academy and her lab on the USS Enterprise * the statement “this entire paper was made up” * statement that study subjects were “made-up individuals” * funding by “Professor Sideshow Bob Foundation for its work in advanced trickery”, and “the University of Fellowship of the Ring and the Galactic Triad” Soon after posting, the information was picked up by Bing’s Copilot, Goggle’s Gemini (which advised ppl to see an ophthalmologist), Perplexity AI (which invented a prevalence figure), and ChatGPT (which told users their symptoms were due to Bixonimania). In 2026 ChatGPT was more skeptical saying it was probably made up, but shortly thereafter reverted on another query with no skepticism. The preprint articles were cited in 2024 in the journal Cureus, a peer-reviewed journal that is indexed in PubMed, and is published by the giant biomedical publisher Springer. After Nature contacted Cureus last month, the article was retracted March 30th, as were the original preprints.  My take on this: \- I nominate Almira Thunstrom for the 2027 Ig Nobel Prize (for the unaware: https://improbable.com/ig/winners/ ) \- preprints are not peer-reviewed, so citing them can be problematic  \- the authors of the Cureus article are idiots \- the peer reviewers for the Cureus article are idiots \- the editors of Cureus are idiots \- If anyone is using AI to practice medicine or conduct research without doing the required due diligence, that researcher or provider might be an idiot.  Thoughts? Discuss amongst yourselves!