Sunset seekers on famed island clash as picturesque views draw huge tourist mobs
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Gizmodo
9 hours ago
- Gizmodo
The Greek Small Town Doctor Who Knows AI's Secrets
On vacation in Greece since July 17, I figured it was a good opportunity to see how artificial intelligence was perceived in this small European Union country, which sits at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. My curiosity was amplified by the fact that I was far from the famous islands like Santorini or Mykonos, which are typically overrun by tourists. The first four days of my trip took me to Ioannina, a town in the country's northwest, a region of mountaineers and shepherds. Here, unlike the sunbaked islands to the south, the landscape is dominated by lush green forests and imposing mountains. The heat wave sweeping through Greece this mid July has kept many tourists from tackling the area's hiking trails. Locals also told me that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has emptied the region of the thousands of Israeli tourists who usually visit each summer. In Ioannina, if you ask for fish, the waiters give you a look that says, 'What are you talking about?' It is a stark reminder that this is not the Greece of mythical beaches, but a world unto itself. This sense of remoteness made me even more curious. Was the technology that dominates every conversation in New York, in major American companies, and on Wall Street, even a topic of discussion here? On Monday, July 21, after admiring the sunset over the lake where Ioannina's residents gather, I found myself at a restaurant with friends of friends. There were four of us, including two locals: a doctor named Thomas Tzimas, a seasoned physician at the local public hospital, and an engineer named Aristotelis Yfantis. After holding back for the first part of the nearly four hour meal, I turned to Dr. Tzimas and asked if he used AI. He smiled. I immediately felt I had asked the wrong question, that I was projecting my tech saturated reality onto his. Just because my work revolves around AI does not mean everyone else does. But I was wrong. I had just stumbled upon one of the most AI savvy doctors I had ever met. Here, in a small town nestled among the Greek mountains, AI had already infiltrated the public hospital. He was not only using it daily but was also keenly aware of its flaws and had developed his own methods to counter them. His secret, he would tell me, was controlling the AI's 'temperature' to prevent it from inventing facts. Dr. Tzimas, 56, is an Internal medicine specialist. He is the director of the Internal Medicine Department at General Hospital of Ioannina 'G. Hatzikosta.' I might as well tell you right away: do not get Dr. Tzimas started on AI. With his calm and measured voice, he offers an endless stream of analysis on the subject. He walks you through his daily hospital routine, providing a fascinating glimpse into how large language models have been adopted here, and on the ground perspective I often feel is missing from my reporting back in America. First, Dr. Tzimas dismisses the most common fear. 'No, not at all,' the 56 year old says when I ask if he worries about being replaced. 'My job involves experience that AI cannot yet replicate. I need to listen to lung, heart, and bowel sounds, palpate patients, and examine them.' He continues, 'While AI might analyze a digital photograph of a skin lesion, it cannot palpate a patient and feel the intensity of pain or guarding. These are qualities that rely on a doctor's senses, like smelling a patient's breath to detect diabetic ketoacidosis.' The key, he told me, is human interaction. Observing a patient's demeanor and hygiene provides crucial information that an algorithm cannot easily process. 'AI helps save time,' he concedes, 'but it needs an experienced physician to input those essential details.' He is also a pragmatist. Any medical profession that does not require a human touch, he insists, is already on the path to being replaced. First on his list is radiology. He says specialists who interpret X-rays and MRIs are becoming obsolete because AI has grown extraordinarily good at spotting lung nodules, fractures, and subtle neurological conditions. Studies published in journals like The Lancet have shown AI models matching or even outperforming human radiologists in identifying cancers on mammograms. 'For an X-ray, there will be only one [specialist] to check to replace ten of them and just confirm what the system has diagnosed,' Dr. Tzimas said. 'And it's easily done on CT scans and MRI scans. Those specialties will soon be replaced by AI.' Next, he says, are psychotherapists. The explosion of mental health apps and chatbots like Woebot and Wysa are already offering AI driven therapy services. believes these tools are poised to compete directly with human therapists for basic counseling, especially for patients who cannot afford or easily access face to face care. 'In psychoanalysis, you don't prescribe medications,' he explained. 'A psychiatrist that has a severely schizophrenic patient or depressed patient has to prescribe drugs. With therapy, you go talk to them. AI will replace therapists.' Before I could process that, Dr. Tzimas revealed that some surgeons are also on the chopping block. He is referring to the human operators of surgical robots like Intuitive's da Vinci system, a multi armed machine that allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures with greater precision. He believes it is only a matter of time before AI directly controls these robots, enabling operations to be performed autonomously. 'Do you know that there are robots who perform surgery nowadays? But they're controlled by humans,' he said, seeing my surprised look. 'Yeah! They can be controlled by AI systems. That's coming.' For now, AI has become his invaluable assistant. 'My previous boss would write his thoughts on paper, and his secretary would type them out,' he says. 'Now, I dictate notes into my iPhone, copy and paste them into an AI system, and it generates a professional email. It also transcribes typed documents from referrals into digital archives, saving me tons of time.' One of the most complex parts of his job, he tells me, is navigating the politics between medical staff, which requires diplomacy and a delicate balancing act. This is where AI shines. 'I use a 'negotiator GPT' prompt that makes answers very diplomatic,' he says. 'When there's a conflict among junior doctors, I have to be strict but also prevent further conflict. This AI acts like an accomplished diplomat, helping me craft replies in our communication platform that smooth over issues.' He also uses it to tailor patient care after a hospital visit. 'I believe certain aspects of a dietician's role, specifically the creation of detailed dietary plans for patients, could be largely automated,' Dr. Tzimas said. 'Imagine a patient with cystitis who shouldn't eat fatty foods, but they don't know what 'fatty food' means. With a nutritional prompting AI, it can issue a detailed diet, explaining that even seemingly lean foods like lamb can be fatty if broiled.' However, the biggest impact that AI has in his job is in the diagnosis of patient symptoms. Dr. Tzimas uses a recent example of a patient who came to the hospital with a fever, after inhaling dust in a sheep and goat stable. After inputting the symptoms and the results of basic tests, AI identified Q fever as a potential diagnosis. A blood sample was sent to Athens for a specialized test. 'Although it came back negative and the final diagnosis was unrelated, the AI system identified Q fever as a potential possibility, which opened our horizons. Without AI, Q fever might not have been on our list,' he said. His biggest concern is the AI's configuration. He quickly realized that AI hallucinates, or makes things up, far too often. But the tool is too important to discard. So, to limit these fabrications, he focuses on a specific setting called 'temperature.' 'If the temperature of AI is 1, they hallucinate,' he explained. 'For the medical field, it has to be 0.3. That makes them so strict, they cannot fantasize things. They stick to the facts.' Temperature is a parameter in AI language models that controls randomness. A high temperature, near 1.0, encourages AI to be more creative and unpredictable, which is great for writing a poem but potentially dangerous for diagnosing a disease. Lowering the temperature, closer to 0.3, makes AI more focused, deterministic, and fact based, reducing the risk of these hallucinations. 'If you prompt AI with very strict protocols, they do not hallucinate,' Dr. Tzimas said, as I pushed him on the reliability of his tools. In Ioannina, for Dr. Tzimas, the debate about whether AI will change medicine is irrelevant. It already has. He uses it for diagnosis, staff communication, and even teaching junior doctors. His perspective reveals both the promise and the peril of our AI future. On one hand, therapy, radiology, and surgery may never look the same. On the other, a simple software setting, the difference between a temperature of 1.0 and 0.3, could be the difference between a correct diagnosis and a catastrophic error. I left the dinner stunned. Seeing a small-town doctor adopting AI so aggressively, I wondered whether the gap between the technology haves and have-nots might grow at a slower pace than I feared. At least in Ioannina, the gap seemed a little less immense.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
The resort town where you can find Maldives-like winter sun closer to home
In a world dominated by modern conveniences and digital devices, it's humbling to discover the surprising sophistication of ancient technologies. A visit to the ancient city of Side, nestled on the Turkish Riviera, reveals just that. Dating back to the 7th century BC, Side boasts ruins including a Roman forum, a theatre, and a reconstructed Greek fountain. The fountain showcases ingenious technology used to channel water into the city from the mountains. While much of the city remains unexcavated, the visible infrastructure offers marvels that could inform modern urban planning. The Romans ingeniously integrated pipes into walls rather than burying them under streets, which prevented the need to disrupt areas for repairs. According to Ismet, a local guide, Side's 2,000-year-old drainage system remains fully functional, having recently passed a test with flying colours after heavy rainfall. 'This is the centre of the world,' Ismet proclaims, highlighting Side's historical importance as a nexus of ancient trading routes. Overlooking the sea under the sun, modern establishments breathe new life into the city's ancient foundations. I'm one of the many tourists wising up to what's on offer along the Turkish Riviera. Around four hours flight from London, it's a place where there are 320 days of sun a year, according to Ismet. 'Autumn is the best season,' he says, when daytime temperatures hover around 27C and the sea is still blissfully warm. Plus, in October and November, you don't have the same crowds as you would in summer. I'm staying a five-minute drive away from Side, in a resort called Bijal. The Turkish Riviera might have a reputation for cheap and cheerful package holidays, but Bijal wants to change that and bring a bit of Maldives-inspired luxury to the coastline. In fact, the owners – the Gürok Group – are also responsible for the Joali and Joali Being resorts in the Maldives. Similarly tropical and chic influences are felt in their Turkey outpost, which officially opened in spring last year. Bijal feels delightfully quiet and serene compared to the hubbub outside its walls. All 19 villas have a private pool so you really don't have to encounter anyone else if you don't want to. And while I've taken the time to marvel at ancient technology, I can't help but still appreciate the perks of modern life at Bijal – like heated pools and the high-tech gym. Art classes are one of several on-site activities designed to lure guests out of their villas. Over the course of three sessions, London-based painter and ceramicist Venetia Berry helps my creative juices flow through pottery and painting classes, with easels set up overlooking the beach and sea. I'm not very artistically talented, but luckily it's a low-pressure situation and Venetia teaches a more surreal style, which really gives a newbie like me a lot of wiggle room. 'It's very meditative,' says Venetia. 'You're looking at a beautiful view and painting, and not thinking about your phone or what meetings you have planned.' She's right. Sometimes we really need to be forced to put down our smartphones to realise how glorious it is to be disconnected. 'People will often leave school and not paint for 10, 15, 20 years and that inner child is still there,' adds Venetia. Staff at Bijal have reported that guests who were previously art novices – like myself – have taken a class on a whim and returned home to enrol in courses. When not painting, I spend time swapping between my private pool and the sandy beach – just a five-minute walk or two-minute cycle away from the villas, complete with a beach club and cabanas to stretch out in. Table tennis tables, dartboards, chessboards and various games prevent me from wasting hours doomscrolling on my phone. In just a few days, I come to realise the Turkish Riviera is every bit as appealing as the Maldives – minus the 10-plus hour journey and jet lag. And who knows, maybe I'll even have to look into some painting classes myself to keep the holiday going for months to come. How to do it Stays from €900 (£750) per night for a one-bedroom villa on B&B basis (two sharing);
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
The mysterious Lake District animal that was born to 'fleece tourists'
A whole host of folklore tales and fascinating stories revolve around Windermere, the Lake District's largest lake. One of the most intriguing tales is the story behind the legendary Tizzie-Whizie. It was allegedly first spotted by a Bowness boatman all the way back in 1900. He regaled tourists in the town's Stag's Head Hotel about his thrilling encounter with the extraordinary creature. Shy, water-loving creatures, Tizzie-Whizies are reputed to have the body of a hedgehog, the tail of a squirrel or fox and a pair of bee-like wings. But the real truth might just be the work of incredible marketing from an ingenious Cumbrian. How the legend came to be: After the "sighting", it is said that the boatman headed to the pub, naturally. According to legend, as he started his third pint, six tourists from London flocked inside. He looked at them, raised his right eyebrow, and took a deep puff from his pipe. The night crawled on, and he mustered up the energy to talk to the young crowd. They loved his local accent and a young lady asked, 'So you've been here a long time, you absolutely must tell us about some of the regional myths and legends. "I love that stuff. I've bought hundreds of books and gone on fairy hunts throughout England.' Tourists loved the story and even agreed to go on 'Tizzie Whizie Hunts' (Getty) (Image: Getty) The Boatman took another long draw from his pipe and looked around the room. A painting of a hedgehog hung on the wall and several flies banged into the cobwebbed lamp. He told them of the Tizzie Whizie. They loved his story and so the boatman used to conduct Tizzie Whizie hunts, charging of course. Recommended reading: American tourist continues to wind up Lake District locals Tourist slams Lake District cave for just being a cave Tourist says famously small Lake District pub is too cramped The evasive Tizzie Whizie would invariably finish under one of the piers and one of the tourists engaged in the hunt would be 'accidentally' pushed into the lake. Sometimes the boatmen would say that it had escaped to Belle Isle and if any of the hunt followers wished they could be taken across the lake to look for it. When asked why they couldn't see it flying across the lake, the reply was 'because it was a very good underwater swimmer'.
