  Ever since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, serious concerns
have been raised about the impact and potentially dire consequences of the
increasingly widespread use of generative AI tools for purposes of scientific
writing and publishing. We document the ongoing discussion in the science
community with a review of news articles, editorials, and position statements
by major scientific publishers; discuss the potential pitfalls of using
generative AI tools such as ChatGPT as aids in scholarly writing; furnish
evidence for the proposition that AI-induced contamination of the scientific
literature is not only a threat, but already a reality; and call upon leaders
in our field to develop policies and guidelines to stem the spread of such
contamination. Closing on a positive note, we provide a brief overview of
potentially useful capabilities and sensible applications of ChatGPT and
similar AI tools for purposes of scholarly writing.
