The new'AI-powered' healthcare system appears to penalise the poorest. The new'AI-powered' healthcare system appears to penalise the poorest. An AI system used to predict how much Kenyans can afford to pay for access to healthcare, has systemically driven up costs for the poor, an investigation has found. The healthcare system being rolled out across the country, a key electoral promise of President William Ruto, was launched in October 2024 and intended to replace Kenya's decades-old national insurance system. Billed as " accelerating digital transformation ", it aimed to expand access to care to Kenya's large informal economy: the day labourers, hawkers, farmers and non-salaried workers that make up 83% of its workforce.

A still from animated film La Sélection Mécanique, directed by Jules Blachier. A still from animated film La Sélection Mécanique, directed by Jules Blachier. While emerging technology is banned from the Palme d'Or, an upstart movement is gaining investment and attention I n Cannes' darkened screening rooms, the supposed future of cinema flickered into life this week and it was strange. The first edition of the World AI film festival (WAIFF) showcased visions of men with fish scales erupting from their necks and seaweed from their mouths, a heroine with a heart beating outside her body and so many massed armies of AI-generated tanned men sweeping across battlefields that David Lean would have blushed. Last week the Cannes film festival, entering its 76th year, banned the emerging technology from its Palme d'Or competition, insisting "AI imitates very well but it will never feel deep emotions".

A worker checks the radiation level inside the control room of reactor No 4, where the Chornobyl disaster happened in 1986. A worker checks the radiation level inside the control room of reactor No 4, where the Chornobyl disaster happened in 1986. In February 2025, a cheap Russian drone tore through Chornobyl's confinement shelter. Workers warn the site of the world's worst nuclear accident is not safe yet The dosimeter clipped to your chest ticks faster the moment you step off the designated path inside the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Step back, and it slows again - an invisible line between clean ground and contamination.

This adds another way for your inner life to be read by prying eyes, though you can opt out. A lifelong diary writer himself, Reinberg launched the app because he was fascinated by journalling, psychology and tech. He has no professional background or education in therapy. "We are not a clinical or a therapy tool," he says. "We're focused on self-reflection and finding connections between entries, holding up a mirror that helps you to make progress in your life." One feature I don't like is that it analyses each entry and gives a percentage score for your dominant emotions.

Is surprise box-office hit Iron Lung the future of'video game films'? The YouTube gaming star's weird and divisive adaptation of his obscure horror film is a game within a film about a game - and hints at new directions for storytelling Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? S omething weird struck me early on while watching the movie Iron Lung, which has so far taken $32m at the box office, despite being a grungy low-budget sci-fi thriller adapted from an independent video game few people outside of the horror gaming community have even heard of. Set after a galactic apocalypse, it follows a convict who must buy his freedom by piloting a rusty submarine through an ocean of human blood on a distant planet. Ostensibly, he's looking for relics that may prove vital for scientific research, but what he finds is much more ghastly.

A still from Humans in the Loop, a 2024 documentary that follows female data workers in Jharkhand state, India, whose labour underpins global AI systems. A still from Humans in the Loop, a 2024 documentary that follows female data workers in Jharkhand state, India, whose labour underpins global AI systems. 'In the end, you feel blank': India's female workers watching hours of abusive content to train AI Thu 5 Feb 2026 03.00 ESTLast modified on Thu 5 Feb 2026 03.03 EST On the veranda of her family's home, with her laptop balanced on a mud slab built into the wall, Monsumi Murmu works from one of the few places where the mobile signal holds. The familiar sounds of domestic life come from inside the house: clinking utensils, footsteps, voices. On her screen a very different scene plays: a woman is pinned down by a group of men, the camera shakes, there is shouting and the sound of breathing.

May the 4th be with you The White House celebrates Star Wars Day. May the 4th be with you The White House celebrates Star Wars Day. Under Donald Trump, the White House has filled its social media with memes, wishcasting, nostalgia and deepfakes. Here's what you need to know to navigate the trolling I t started with an image of Trump as a king mocked up on a fake Time magazine cover. Since then it's developed into a full-blown phenomenon, one academics are calling "slopaganda" - an unholy alliance of easily available AI tools and political messaging.

AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. What I do not do is predict the future. No one can predict the future, which is a good thing, since if the future were predictable, that would mean we couldn't change it. Now, not everyone understands the distinction. They think science-fiction writers are oracles. Even some of my colleagues labor under the delusion that we can "see the future". Then there are science-fiction fans who believe that they are the future. A depressing number of those people appear to have become AI bros. These guys can't shut up about the day that their spicy autocomplete machine will wake up and turn us all into paperclips has led many confused journalists and conference organizers to try to get me to comment on the future of AI. That's something I used to strenuously resist doing, because I wasted two years of my life explaining patiently and repeatedly why I thought crypto was stupid, and getting relentlessly bollocked by cryptocurrency cultists who at first insisted that I just didn't understand crypto.

The draw of the impossible Baby Steps. The draw of the impossible Baby Steps. If you've ever refused to knock down a game's difficulty level, or chased a purposefully pointless achievement, you might have this pernicious but pleasurable affliction Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? S tudies on gaming's effect on the brain usually focus on aggression or the cognitive benefits of playing games. The former topic has fallen out of fashion now, after more than a decade's worth of scientific research failed to prove any causative link between video games and real-world violence.

Zurich-based firm taps into latest robot tech to'fibre-spray' high-end sports shoes worn by the likes of Roger Federer A robot leg whirs around in a complex ballet as an almost invisible spray of "flying fibre" builds a hi-tech £300 sports shoe at its foot. This nearly entirely automated process - like a sci-fi future brought to life - is part of the gameplan from On, the Swiss sports brand that is taking on the sector's mighty champions Nike and Adidas with a mix of technology and chutzpah. The brand is expanding rapidly after teaming up with the former tennis pro Roger Federer to create shoes suitable for the Swiss star's sport and a mix of fashion-led collaborations including with the luxury brand LOEWE, actor Zendaya and singers FKA twigs and Burna Boy. In China, sales have doubled year-on-year. Growth has been strong in the US and mainland Europe and this month On will open its fourth London store, in Kensington.