July 6, 2025:
AI Prompts in Research Papers Seek Positive Reviews - A Nikkei Asia investigation reveals that researchers are embedding hidden AI prompts in preprint papers on arXiv to sway peer reviews. Seventeen papers from 14 universities in eight countries, such as Waseda University and Columbia University, contained these prompts. Concealed through white text or small fonts, they instructed AI reviewers to give positive feedback or emphasize the papers' contributions.
One professor from Waseda defended this approach as a response to reviewers who use AI, since many conferences ban AI for paper reviews. The affected papers mainly address topics in computer science.
