EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Artificial Intelligence

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This month, we’re focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), a topic that continues to capture attention everywhere. Here, you’ll find the latest research news, insights, and discoveries shaping how AI is being developed and used across the world.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Apr-2026 08:17 ET (30-Apr-2026 12:17 GMT/UTC)

20-Apr-2026

Study suggests that strategic Wikipedia engagement enhances scientific visibility, highlighting new imperatives for AI-era information access

University of Colorado Anschutz
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study, published in Anatomical Sciences Education, provides evidence that researchers and scientific organizations can significantly improve public access to accurate, high-quality information through structured engagement with Wikipedia, one of the most widely used knowledge platforms in the world and an increasingly influential source for both search engines and artificial intelligence systems.

Journal: Anatomical Sciences Education

20-Apr-2026

Lost millennium of Galápagos deep-sea corals linked to major Pacific climate shift

University of Bristol
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have discovered that deep-water corals in the Galápagos region vanished for more than 1,000 years before eventually recovering. The findings reveal that deep-water coral ecosystems may be more susceptible to climate change than previously thought.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

20-Apr-2026

This new tool makes AI’s role in student writing visible

Georgia Institute of Technology
Reports and Proceedings

Created by Georgia Tech researchers, DraftMarks reveals how AI shapes the writing process and offers a new way to assess learning in the age of generative AI.

20-Apr-2026

Dana-Farber phase 2 trial shows deep and lasting responses to car t-cell therapy for high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Meeting Announcement

Results of the single-center, phase 2 CAR-PRISM (PRecision Intervention Smoldering Myeloma) clinical trial, the first to investigate Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma, showed that all 20 patients were negative for minimal residual disease (MRD) within two months of treatment and remained MRD-negative after a median of 15.3 months of follow-up, and none experienced high-grade side effects, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026, held April 17-22, in San Diego, Calif.

Funder: Janssen Biotech
Meeting: American Association for Cancer (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026

20-Apr-2026

AI tool could speed up drug discovery

University of Oregon

For every life-changing new drug that comes to market, many candidates fail along the way. An artificial intelligence-based tool developed at the University of Oregon could help scientists better predict how hypothetical new drugs might act in the body before running expensive tests. Their algorithm efficiently simulates how never-seen-before molecules will move and behave, based on their chemical structure.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

20-Apr-2026

Spatial analysis of cell patterning to aid genetic and phenotypic understanding of grass stomatal density: A case study in maize

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

A new study by Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) researchers investigates how data from a machine learning-enabled high-throughput phenotyping method can (1) aid in generating a holistic assessment of a composite-component trait set and (2) help advance knowledge of genotype-to-phenotype relationships and trait networks. This study highlights how novel insights can be gained by decomposing a complex, composite trait into a set of component traits that were present in high-throughput phenotyping data but not previously exploited.

Journal: The Plant Phenome Journal
Funder: U.S. Department of Agriculture

20-Apr-2026

New USF study: Chatbot empathy can worsen customer reactions

University of South Florida

When a service encounter goes south, customers expect empathy. Hearing an employee say, “I share your frustration,” can calm tensions and rebuild trust. But new research from the University of South Florida suggests that when a chatbot tries the same tactic, it can backfire.

Journal: MIS Quarterly