Good morning! I’m not referring to the Prime Minister here, although it’s hard to resist drawing analogies. I’m not talking about Nebojsa Medojevic either. Nor about the positive example of basketball player Andrija Grbovic, who just started his season at my university in the U.S. I’m talking about high school student Lazar Tomic, who was promoted by Montenegrin institutions and media as a scientific wunderkind—without dedicating even a moment to verifying the information and data he was presenting.
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Genius from Pljevlja
Now I fully expect the same people to turn against him, forgetting that he is undoubtedly a talented kid who got a little carried away with artificial intelligence. He doesn’t need to be smacked down, but rather given space to correct his mistake and shown a proper path to pursue his academic interests and dreams—and to contribute to science. If that’s something he’s actually interested in.
The first to notice that something was off in the young man’s story were the admins of the Polucija page. Without them, I probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to the topic from the morning shows—and even if I had, I wouldn’t have known what this young man was talking about or whether it made any sense. While journalists struggled to pronounce the theoretical concepts this teenager spoke of, none of them thought to check or ask someone who actually knows if what he was saying held water.
Nor did the state institutions, which are supposed to understand what the kid was talking about, bother to check.
On the other hand, many who rushed to celebrate the “genius” at first glance are now pouring dirt on the young man, forgetting that he is a teenager, a high school student, a child at the end of the day. They’re comparing him to Scepan Mali (Stephen the Little), and using the fact he’s from Pljevlja to draw parallels with the Prime Minister and his political agenda.
The toxicity of social media users, which we wrote about yesterday, shows no restraint even in this case. There’s zero concern for the mental well-being of a child, and many bitter old folks hiding behind anonymous avatars are using this opportunity to vomit their frustration onto an innocent kid.
Because Lazar isn’t the one to blame. First, it’s the school’s fault—for clearly not teaching enough about academic integrity. Contrary to popular belief, people aren’t born with integrity—they are taught it. No one is born good or bad—they learn to be either.
If we set aside all the chatter about Montenegro being a small province where any adventurer or fraudster can become king, this story can actually carry a completely different message—an optimistic one.
And that is: the case of Lazar Tomic shows us all the possibilities and risks of artificial intelligence. His curiosity should be seen as an opportunity. Imagine if Lazar had had a sufficiently literate professor or mentor to guide his research talent. It’s still not too late. He should learn from this and move forward.
And no, Montenegro is not some hole where fraud thrives and is rewarded. Academic integrity is being challenged globally. The line is thin between using AI as a tool to produce high-quality academic work—and crossing into plagiarism or letting AI do the entire job for you.
Lazar deserves a chance and support for his undeniable talent. The only ones who should be held accountable are the media and institutions—that is, individuals within them—who collectively failed at the job they are supposed to perform conscientiously and responsibly.
That’s all for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(Columnists’ opinions and views are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
