Artificial intelligence is better than doctors at spotting skin cancer, a study has shown. A Google algorithm devised to recognise unusual moles not only picked up more cancers but also ruled out more benign lesions. Experts are increasingly optimistic that within a few years machine learning will automate many diagnoses, helping doctors to become more efficient and reducing mistakes. Last week Theresa May said AI that harnessed genetic information and medical records to spot disease early was crucial to Britain's future prosperity. The latest study, led by Professor Holger Haenssle, of the University of Heidelberg, is one of the first in which AI convincingly comes out on top against specialists in spotting cancer.

A deep-learning system that can sift gravitational wave signals from background noise has been created by physicists in the UK. Deep learning is a neural-inspired pattern recognition technique that has already been applied to image processing, speech recognition and medical diagnoses, among other things. Chris Messenger and colleagues at the University of Glasgow have shown that their system is as effective as conventional signal processing and has the potential to identify gravitational-wave signals much more quickly. Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time that can be observed using the LIGO-Virgo detectors – which are laser interferometers with pairs of arms several kilometres long positioned at right angles to each other. As a wave passes through the Earth it very slightly stretches one arm while squeezing the other, before squeezing the first and stretching the second, and so on.

The artificial intelligence could eventually help social networking sites combat hate speech.