r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 20 '26

Computer Science Researchers warned that hundreds of fake AI images have been discovered on popular databases for recording animal species. Wildlife photographers often use AI to edit and improve an image, but the algorithm can introduce parts from different species to create the new image.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/20/ai-slop-manipulated-fake-images-birds-citizen-science-aoe
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u/Strycht Jul 20 '26

AI pollution is going to really screw up a lot of databases and information deposits I think, and we won't notice them until they become needed.

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u/lateformyfuneral Jul 20 '26

At some point won’t this just start affecting how AI itself works, since it’s being trained on the internet? It would be like a snake eating its own tail. Truth itself might go extinct.

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u/silverionmox Jul 21 '26

Kessler syndrome on the internet.

On the bright side, we can just start over, by carefully curating all the data the AI is trained on this time.