AI Researcher Claims Authorship of 113 Papers in One Year as Conference Submissions Double, Sparking Quality Crisis

Dec 07, 2025
the Guardian
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Summary

AI researcher Kevin Zhu claims authorship of 113 papers in one year as major conferences see submissions double to over 21,000, creating a quality crisis where experts struggle to distinguish meaningful scientific contributions from AI-generated low-quality work flooding the academic system.

Key Points

  • AI research faces a crisis as Kevin Zhu claims authorship of 113 academic papers in one year, with 89 being presented at NeurIPS conference, prompting experts to call his work a 'disaster' and question research quality standards
  • Major AI conferences experience overwhelming submission increases, with NeurIPS receiving 21,575 papers this year compared to under 10,000 in 2020, leading to compromised review processes and declining paper quality scores
  • Academic pressure to publish high volumes of research creates a 'frenzy' in AI field, with some researchers using AI tools to generate low-quality work that floods conferences and makes it nearly impossible to distinguish meaningful scientific contributions

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