Europe
One in seven in UK prefer consulting AI chatbots to seeing doctor, study finds
A quarter of the people who use chatbots for medical advice say they are influenced by long NHS waiting lists. A quarter of the people who use chatbots for medical advice say they are influenced by long NHS waiting lists. Exclusive: Doctors say'highly concerning' poll highlights risk to patients of turning to AI for medical advice One in seven people are using AI chatbots for health advice instead of seeing their GP, a UK study has found. The poll of more than 2,000 people found that - of the 15% turning to chatbots - one in four had done so because of long NHS waiting lists. The study analysed by researchers at King's College London revealed the potential risks of using AI for health advice.
Reports of the Workshops Held at the 2026 AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence
The 10th International Workshop on Health Intelligence (W3PHIAI-26) celebrated a decade of bringing AI and health research together, building on a lineage that began with the AAAI-W3PHI workshops focused on population health (2014-2016), the AAAI-HIAI workshops focused on personalized health (2013-2016), and the subsequent joint W3PHIAI workshops held annually from 2017 through 2025. Over this decade, the series has produced hundreds of talks and high-impact publications that have collectively received thousands of citations, shaping the research agenda in both population health intelligence and personalized healthcare AI. This year's special theme, "Foundation Models and AI Agents," reflected the field's rapidly evolving frontier: the emergence of autonomous and semi-autonomous AI systems reshaping clinical workflows, patient management, health system operations, and public health surveillance. Day 1 of the workshop focused on medical imaging and the translation of AI for clinical ...
WhatsApp launches totally private 'incognito' conversations with its AI chatbot
WhatsApp launches totally private'incognito' conversations with its AI chatbot WhatsApp has introduced private chats with its AI chatbot which not even the tech company will be able to read in a new incognito mode. It means neither the user nor the AI's responses will be monitored if the feature is activated, and past conversations will disappear from the chat for the user. Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said he felt people wanted to have private conversations with AI on sensitive subjects including health, relationships and finances and didn't want them to be accessible. But a cyber security expert has told the BBC this could lead to a lack of accountability for WhatsApp if things go wrong, as they would have no access to chat history. WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which also owns Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
Star Fox 64, a game I loved in my childhood, is returning – but I have mixed feelings
Why are Nintendo releasing a straight-up remake of the space-flight shooter - with many of its original limitations - rather than a fresh new take? T he Nintendo 64 was not my first video game console, but it was my formative one. Getting to grips with 3D movement in Super Mario 64 with that weird three-pronged controller is one of my most visceral childhood memories; the long, wait for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the background noise to a huge chunk of my youth. But back in the 1990s (in the UK at least), it felt as if had an N64. When everybody had a PlayStation instead, I felt I was the only kid in my whole city who cared more about Banjo-Kazooie than Crash Bandicoot. If even Zelda seemed comparatively niche in Europe in the 90s, Lylat Wars (known elsewhere as Star Fox 64) was a real deep cut.
New rules confirm public has a right to see how UK government uses AI
Government departments and other public bodies in the UK must consider requests to release information about AI-produced content, regulators have confirmed. The move follows a successful request by New Scientist for the release of a minister's ChatGPT logs The use of AI chatbots is subject to the UK's Freedom of Information laws Text, images and other content produced by UK government departments and other public bodies using artificial intelligence are subject to freedom of information (FOI) laws, regulators have confirmed - potentially opening the door for the public to gain access to ministers' ChatGPT or other chatbot records. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data-protection agency, has released new guidance confirming that "If staff at a public authority use AI for work purposes, the information generated will be subject to FOIA [the Freedom of Information Act] along with the prompts used". Last year, successfully requested the then-UK tech secretary Peter Kyle's ChatGPT logs under FOI legislation, in what is believed to be a world first. That triggered subsequent requests from other news outlets to obtain other information, but many have either been rejected on cost grounds or labelled as "vexatious", an umbrella term that allows authorities to reject a request.
Russian drone attacks kill nine in Ukraine after ceasefire expires
Nine people have been killed and at least 28 injured in the latest Russian drone attacks across Ukraine, local officials have said. They said the worst-hit was the central Dnipropetrovsk region, where eight people were killed and 11 injured throughout Tuesday. One casualty was reported in the eastern Donetsk region. Overall, 14 regions were attacked. On Wednesday morning, President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 100 Russian drones were currently over Ukraine, warning of more waves of attacks throughout the day.
Beware what you tell your AI chatbot. It's not a shrink – it's a snitch Arwa Mahdawi
Beware what you tell your AI chatbot. It's not a shrink - it's a snitch In a case of'oh dear diary', the OpenAI president Greg Brockman is having to read extracts from his musings about Elon Musk in court. T he hottest new read of 2026 may well be The Secret Diary of Greg Brockman, Aged 38 . It's got everything: feuding billionaires, scheming CEOs and a perhaps somewhat unreliable narrator. You won't find it in the library, but you can watch Brockman, a co-founder and president of OpenAI, being forced to read the juiciest bits out loud in court. Before you ask ChatGPT to explain, here's the backstory: Elon Musk is in a legal battle with Brockman and the OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman .
Ikea's New Designer Collection Is Home-Office Heaven
Ikea's New Designer Collection Is Home-Office Heaven From a twisty lamp to a bendy clock, the Swedish company's full 2026 PS Collection has dropped. It's a boon for those looking to refine their homes and workstations. Now that the hubbub of the cat-tested blow-up chair has calmed down, Ikea has taken the wraps off the rest of its latest PS Collection (which stands for Post Scriptum). Consisting of 44 pieces, including the viral inflatable PS 2026 Easy Chair, the furniture brand says the theme of the 2026 PS Collection is playful functionality. The new PS Collection (available in stores from May 14, then online from May 22) has not one but two options for accommodating impromptu sleepovers.
Developing active and flexible microrobots
Leiden researchers Professor Daniela Kraft and Mengshi Wei have created microscopic robots that move without sensors, software, or external control. Instead, their behaviour emerges entirely from their shape and the way they interact with their environment. This class of robots opens up entirely new possibilities for biomedical applications. Inspiration to build these robots came from nature. Kraft: "Animals like worms and snakes constantly adapt their shape as they move, which helps them to navigate their environments. Macroscopic robots similarly use flexibility for their function. However, until now, microrobots were either small and rigid, or large and flexible. We wondered if we could realize small and flexible microrobots in our lab."
Chris Mason: Why a quick meeting is overshadowing the King's Speech
Chris Mason: Why a coffee is overshadowing the King's Speech It is quite something when two blokes having a cup of coffee can generate more headlines and conversation than the King coming to parliament for the main ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar. Both these things are happening this morning. The prime minister has met the Health Secretary Wes Streeting in private - a meeting offered by Sir Keir Starmer to cabinet ministers after Tuesday's cabinet meeting and an offer Streeting took up. It was a very short meeting - under 20 minutes - and we may not know what happened in Number 10 immediately. And then, not long afterwards, the King will arrive in Westminster for the State Opening of Parliament, in which the sovereign reads out the government's planned new laws for the year and a bit ahead. This ceremonial occasion was scheduled for this week precisely because government figures anticipated a rough set of election results and a splash of political tumult afterwards.