The Guardian Australia·Australia·Monday, August 17, 2026 at 07:06 AM

Afternoon Update: Senate hears social media ban report could contain AI hallucinations, Hayden Panettiere dies, and ‘ugly dogs’

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Miles Herbert

A section of a report supporting Australia’s teen social media ban appears to include links to academic articles that do not exist, a Senate inquiry has heard.

The authors of a report testing the technology underpinning the ban conceded ChatGPT was used in editing, but denied a number of citation errors in the report were due to AI hallucinations.

When asked about the allegation by Guardian Australia this month, a spokesperson initially denied the use of AI, but later conceded it had been used to rewrite paragraphs more succinctly. Guardian Australia’s own analysis of the report identified six references in the same section that contained errors.

Prof Christian Downie, from Australian National University, who has previously examined submissions to government that contained AI hallucinations, said if reports or submissions to government are found to have false citations in them – AI or otherwise – it could “erode public confidence and trust” in institutions.

In video

Pug rescue Jinny Lu celebrates winning first place in the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder at the World’s Ugliest Dog contest, which marked its 50th year at the Sonoma County Fair in California. The competition, which promotes dog adoptions and ‘the imperfections that make all dogs special’, was won this year by Jinny Lu, a pug from South Korea.

What they said …

Jordon Steele-John. — Greens senator Jordon Steele-John made an impassioned plea in the Senate. Photograph: Parlview

“Shame on you. You betray not only this community, but the national character. You will be condemned by history. The blood and the lives of those who will suffer and die will be on your hands, and will live in your consciences forever”. – Jordon Steele-John

Steele-John has accused the government of backing the “gas industry and the billionaires instead of … disabled people and our families”, as debate on the NDIS legislation in the Senate continues.

Podcast

James Ellis Ford photographed in his home in London. July 2026 — James Ellis Ford says making music helped him through one of the hardest periods of his life. Photograph: Manuel Vazquez/The Guardian

The super-producer who made an album from his hospital bed

He has been described as the music industry’s secret weapon; a producer loved by artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and Jessie Ware. In 2024, James Ellis Ford was at the height of his career. Then, he was diagnosed with leukaemia and it all ground to a halt.

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Isolated on a hospital ward and not allowed any visitors except his wife, he began making music as a way to pass the time. Those ideas bloomed into a full album, Lost in Another World.

Listen to the episode here.

Before bed read

Illustration of two women sitting at a counter. — Helen says expressing grief can be awkward. People “don’t know what to say, or how to sit with it”, she says. Illustration: Alamy/Guardian Design

In the latest edition of the Guardian’s Kindness of strangers series, Helen works through the grief of her mother dying, with help and kindness from a saleswoman at a stationery shop.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: ZOO. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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