Novel Strategy Used by Academics to Influence Peer Review Process
In a recent development, academics are resorting to a unique strategy to sway the peer review process of their research papers. This strategy involves incorporating hidden prompts that are specifically designed to manipulate AI tools into providing positive feedback.
According to a report by Nikkei Asia, a total of 17 English-language preprint papers on the renowned arXiv platform were found to contain hidden AI prompts. The authors of these papers hailed from 14 academic institutions across eight countries, including prestigious universities like Waseda University in Japan, KAIST in South Korea, Columbia University, and the University of Washington in the United States.
Most of these papers were centered around topics related to computer science. The hidden prompts, which were usually brief (consisting of one to three sentences), were cleverly concealed using techniques like white text or extremely small fonts. These prompts directed any AI reviewers to focus solely on providing positive feedback or to commend the paper for its significant contributions, methodological rigor, and exceptional novelty.
A professor from Waseda University, when approached by Nikkei Asia, defended the use of these prompts. They explained that since many conferences prohibit the use of AI for paper reviews, these prompts serve as a deterrent against “lazy reviewers” who heavily rely on AI tools.
