IO’s week: a climate case against Shell

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By Aafke Eppinga

In our Sunday newsletter, we editors reflect on the past seven days. We do this on the initiative of our cartoonist Albert Jan Rasker. He chooses a subject, draws a picture, and we take it from there.

Who is responsible for emissions? This might be the most important question this week, and Albert Jan captured it aptly. In the last few days, the appeal of the climate case against Shell took place, and the whole world was watching. Three years ago, Shell was defeated by Milieudefensie in a court case. Among other things, it ordered the company to reduce emissions by 45 percent. Shell disputes this obligation, arguing that it is a matter for the government. The court must reach a verdict in the coming months. Whatever the outcome will be, not everyone will be happy.

AI for good

The fact that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasing part of our lives is a given. But what impact will this technology have on our lives in the future? This edition of IO Next – ‘AI for good’ – focuses on precisely that question.

We sat down with scientists and entrepreneurs working on various applications of artificial intelligence —AI for healthcare, AI for the climate, AI for jobs, and AI for education. While much of the impact of AI is still unknown, these people have a very clear picture of how their applications will contribute to a better and fairer future.

Some plan to use it to achieve disruptive systemic change, others use it to use farmland more efficiently, and others to detect skin diseases. Colleagues Merien and Laio wrote a dystopian story about a society in which artificial intelligence is actually in charge. That AI can also evoke fear is not surprising, Elcke argues in her column. For example, we were afraid of the bicycle in the nineteenth century, and look at us now. If we in the Netherlands learn to deal with AI as well as we do with bicycles, there is a bright future ahead of us.

You can already access all these stories here, and expect a week full of AI for good articles on our website this week!