Microsoft AI diagnoses complex medical cases four times better than human doctors by Paul Hill Microsoft AI has revealed that its AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) is able to correctly diagnose 85% of complex cases from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) case proceedings. What makes this more impressive is that the cases published in NEJM are very diagnostically complex and intellectually demanding. They typically require multiple specialists and diagnostic tests to reach a definitive diagnosis, so the fact AI can get it right most of the time is a big deal. The MAI-DxO turns language models into a virtual panel of clinicians that is able to ask follow-up questions, order tests, or deliver diagnoses. MAI-DxO boosted the diagnostic performance of every model that was tested by Microsoft, with the best results when it was paired with OpenAI’s o3. When MAI-DxO was using o3, it was able to correctly solve 85.5% of NEJM benchmark cases. Microsoft compared this to humans; it took 21 practicing physicians from the US and UK with 5-20 years of clinical experience, and on the same tasks, they achieved a mean accuracy of just 20% across completed cases. Microsoft believes that these tools can significantly shake up healthcare by empowering patients to self-manage routine aspects of care and equipping clinicians with advanced decision support for complex cases. To find out how AI would perform on the NEJM cases, Microsoft had to create the Sequential Diagnosis Benchmark (SD Bench) which transforms 304 recent NEJM cases into stepwise diagnostic encounters. Models can then iteratively ask questions and order tests. As new information becomes available, the model will update its reasoning and gradually move toward a final diagnosis which can be compared to what was published in the NEJM. As mentioned before, the MAI-DxO system emulates a virtual panel of physicians that is able to ask follow-up questions, order tests, or deliver diagnoses. Aside from this, it can operate within defined cost constraints to help prevent excessive testing. While Microsoft’s experiment is showing very promising results, this research is just a first step. Before generative AI can be used safely in healthcare scenarios, more evidence needs to be gathered from real clinical environments. There also need to be appropriate governance and regulatory frameworks to make sure models are reliable and safe. To accomplish all of this, Microsoft is partnering with health organizations to test and validate its approaches before any broader rollout.

Rubbish talentless people hired on basis of filling a certain quota will always lead to rubbish company decisions. I am stumped at the thought that people are still OK with DEI after the hell that the gaming industry is going through.

I mean, to say that Xbox lost is soul, is the exact same argument you could make about Sony. Clearly, the console space is not the as it was a decade ago, as it was a decade before that and another before that. Generational shifts and market trends clearly defined the space we're currently at. One thing is clear, gaming is not going anywhere, it only continues to grow, for better or for worse. Microsoft pivoted to a publisher focused, and now they want to dominate console streaming, which they seem to have a considerable leg up over Sony on this regard as Internet reliability and speeds keep improving, console hardware might not be a feasible model unless you follow the Nintendo route of making the hardware at a profit (considering its limitations). Also, it seems now that Microsoft pivoted the Xbox branding, that could open the door for 3rd party hardware companies make Consoles that run Windows-Xbox OS, which is something interesting to consider, which would convert Xbox into an Android like approach.

UK planning measures to stop illegal content from going viral by Usama Jawad Image via Pixabay A few days ago, we learned that the UK's digital regulator Ofcom has mandated adult websites like Pornhub to put robust age check mechanisms in place to ensure that age-inappropriate content like pornography is not readily available to minors. Now, the government-approved authority has set its sights on a new target. According to an announcement on its website, Ofcom is now holding a consultation period for a set of measures it is proposing to curb the spread of illegal content online. These methods are a part of Ofcom's "Year of Action" initiative, where the regulator is taking decisive practical actions to ensure the online safety of the UK's citizens. Ofcom is proposing the implementation of better recommender systems and crisis response protocols to restrict illegal content from going viral online. In addition, it has also proposed the utilization of proactive mechanisms like hash checks for illegal images to nip the problem in the bud and not even allow any such visual content to be published online. Furthermore, the regulator will be asking tech firms and social media platform owners to leverage artificial intelligence systems in order to detect content like fraud and suicide. People who regularly engage in the practice of publication of illegal content online will also be punished with new sanctions. Lastly, Ofcom wants to build upon its existing child protection codes and capabilities online. It is planning to do this by placing restrictions on interactions between minors and streamers during livestreams. It will urge website owners to block users who share child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and is also proposing the development of AI tools to detect grooming activities and CSAM. The consultation period is open until 5pm on October 20, 2025. Ofcom is soliciting feedback from "service providers", law enforcement authorities, and the public until that deadline to finalize its proposal.