The increasing use of AI in psychiatry; Altman beats Musk in battle of the tech titans; ancient dingo bond revealed

The increasing use of AI in psychiatry; Altman beats Musk in battle of the tech titans; ancient dingo bond revealed

By Paul Gallagher
Publication Date: 2026-05-18 20:43:00

Good morning In a sign of the times, a Melbourne psychiatrist is refusing to accept new patients who disagree with her using AI note-taking tools. Coincidentally, a jury overnight awarded Sam Altman victory in his high-stakes battle with Elon Musk to found the tech giant OpenAI.

Meanwhile, research shows the social media ban has had unintended consequences for under-16s, and activists have criticized proposed legislation for the Northern Territory that would allow police to hold children for days without charge.

Plus: A thousand-year-old dingo burial site in New South Wales tells us of an ancient connection.

Australia

Barkindji caretaker David Doyle unearths the first bone from a millennia-old dingo burial site in Kinchega National Park. Dingoes “were a companion animal until colonization,” he says.
Photo: Amy Way

World

A digitally colorized scanning electron microscope image showing filamentous Ebola virus particles. Photo: Reuters

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Author Patrick Radden…