A nonsensical academic paper on nuclear physics has been accepted by the International Conference on Atomic and Nuclear Physics. Though the idea came from a New Zealand professor, the paper was in reality written by the iSO autocomplete function.
Christoph Bartneck is taking academy to a new level of laziness. The professor -from the Human Interface Technology laboratory at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand – received an invitation to present his gibberish work in an academic conference scheduled in November in the U.S.
“I started a sentence with ‘Atomic’ and ‘Nuclear’ and then randomly hit the autocomplete suggestions,” wrote a surprised Christoph Bartneck on a blog on Thursday. “The text really does not make any sense”
“Power is not a great place for a good time”
The paper’s title is “Atomic Energy will have been made available to a single source” and it was also written by the apple’s autocomplete, as we can notice. As well, Bartneck illustrated the paper with the first image on the Wikipedia entry for nuclear physics. It obviously was all part of a joke, because he even used a fake identity when he submitted the paper to the U.S organization on nuclear physics.
“Since I have practically no knowledge of nuclear physics I resorted to iOS autocomplete function to help me writing the paper,” said Bartneck.
In the mail he identified himself as Iris Pear- a play on ‘Siri Apple’, claiming to be an associated professor at the “Umbria Polytech University” in Cupertino, California. He outlined the experience of Iris in nuclear physics through a biography where he used contradictory gender pronouns.
The text concludes with the following phrase: “Power is not a great place for a good time”
A ridiculous acceptance
Though it was all part of a joke, Bartneck was surprised to receive three hours after his paper’s submission an acceptance letter from the International Conference on Atomic and Nuclear physics. In that letter, he was invited to explain his work in a conference that will be held on November 17 and 18, in the U.S. It is organized by ConferenceSeries.
Bartneck didn’t have to pay to submit the gracious autocomplete-made paper; however, the acceptance letter referred him to register for the conference for $1099 as a speaker. He said that given the quality under which papers are reviewed and the expensive registration fee, it is obvious that it is a money-making conference with no real commitment to science. He has no plans to go to the conference.
“I did not complete this step since my university would certainly object to me wasting money this way,” said Bartneck. “My impression is that this is not a particularly good conference.”
However, he admitted that even tough he hasn’t replied the email, he was tempted to ask them about the reviews comments. Additionally, his presentation would probably be needed by the conference since only 10 people have confirmed their attendance for the Atlanta Conference, according to the Facebook page created for the event. The organization hasn’t pronounced about the whole controversy yet.
“The atoms of a better universe will have the right for the same as you are the way we shall have to be a great place for a great time to enjoy the day you are a wonderful person to your great time to take the fun and take a great time and enjoy the great day you will be a wonderful time for your parents and kids,” is a part of the nonsense that contained the paper made by the autocomplete.
Source: The Guardian