EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Artificial Intelligence

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.

AI-assisted approach identifies IRS4 as a promising drug target in multiple solid tumors

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Leveraging AI capabilities combined with genetic data led St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators to predict new cancer drug targets that carry a limited risk of side effects.

Journal: Science Advances

30-Apr-2026

In study, real-time feedback on metrics of collaborative processes failed to boost performance, collective intelligence

Carnegie Mellon University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study suggests that some uses of tools— such as providing real-time feedback on collaboration via specific metrics — do not necessarily improve how teams work and in some cases may even make performance worse. The study, “Exploring the Effects of Real-Time Feedback on Collaborative Processes to Enhance Collective Intelligence in Teams,” by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Dayton, appears in Collective Intelligence. The researchers tested whether showing teams real-time indicators of collaboration quality would help them work together more effectively on a dynamic online search-and-rescue task.

Journal: Collective Intelligence
Funder: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

30-Apr-2026

Framework grounded in collective intelligence aims to create effective collaboration in human-AI teams

Carnegie Mellon University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the new paper, “Toward a Science of Human–AI Teaming for Decision Making: A Complementarity Framework,” researchers present a framework for understanding and designing human–AI teams for decision making. Drawing on collective intelligence research, the framework focuses on reasoning, memory, and attention as core processes that can be distributed across people and AI systems. Published in PNAS Nexus, the work offers guidance for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to build human–AI teams that are effective, accountable, and aligned with human values.

Journal: PNAS Nexus

30-Apr-2026

WVU legal expert finds judges cautiously adopting AI while guarding human authority

West Virginia University
Reports and Proceedings

New research from West Virginia University shows that as generative artificial intelligence begins to show up in courtrooms across the country, judges aren’t rushing to hand over the gavel. A white paper co-authored by Amy Cyphert, associate professor in the WVU College of Law, offers a closer look at how judges are beginning to use generative AI in their day-to-day work.

30-Apr-2026

New report looks at how AI is impacting software development

Association for Computing Machinery
Reports and Proceedings

Generative AI tools are rapidly transforming how software is built—and raising new risks in the process, according to a new TechBrief from the Association for Computing Machinery’s Technology Policy Council (TPC) on the rise of “vibe coding.”

30-Apr-2026

Coloring the map to reduce visual drift in GNSS-denied navigation

Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team has developed a camera-only visual odometry (VO) system that uses prebuilt colored point cloud maps to deliver more accurate and robust localization with reduced drift in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-challenged environments.

Journal: Satellite Navigation

30-Apr-2026

New AI-powered robotic system performs heart ultrasounds without guidance

Concordia University

Researchers at Concordia University have developed an AI-driven robotic system that can autonomously perform cardiac ultrasound scans without human guidance. Trained using realistic simulated images and reinforcement learning, the robot learns to position and adjust the probe to capture diagnostic views. Tests show it can match or outperform human operators, potentially expanding access to reliable heart imaging in underserved settings.

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

Latest News Releases

AI-assisted approach identifies IRS4 as a promising drug target in multiple solid tumors

In study, real-time feedback on metrics of collaborative processes failed to boost performance, collective intelligence

Framework grounded in collective intelligence aims to create effective collaboration in human-AI teams

WVU legal expert finds judges cautiously adopting AI while guarding human authority

New report looks at how AI is impacting software development

Coloring the map to reduce visual drift in GNSS-denied navigation

New AI-powered robotic system performs heart ultrasounds without guidance