An artificial-intelligence bot can now pass 99.8% of attention-check questions in surveys (see Nature 650, 17; 2026). But this needn’t be a threat: these checks were invented to catch careless human respondents. AI did not create the data-quality problem — it has simply made it harder to ignore. Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any time Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Rent or buy this article Prices vary by article type from$1.95 to$39.95 Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Nature 651, 846 (2026) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00862-9 The authors declare no competing interests. AI chatbots are infiltrating social-science surveys — and getting better at avoiding detection The first ‘AI societies’ are taking shape: how human-like are they?…