BIG Exclusives

In 2019, a major healthcare system implemented an AI tool to help doctors identify patients at risk of sepsis – a condition that kills more than 250,000 Americans annually. The system analyzed patient data and flagged high-risk cases with impressive accuracy during testing. But when doctors tried to understand why the AI made specific recommendations, they hit a wall. The system could not explain its reasoning. It could not tell doctors which factors led...

History shows that urbanization throughout the western world has been largely fuelled by increases in agricultural productivity, and that the enabling commodities are hydrocarbons. The discovery of how to unlock geological energy beneath our feet has given rise to the mechanization of farm labour and the scalable production of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Unfortunately, urbanization has also created historic levels of agricultural naivety. With increasing productivity, fewer people are required to produce food for society. As a...

The hallucination problem: when AI makes things up Right now, as you process this sentence, your brain is performing thousands of micro-decisions that you're not even conscious of. You're contextualizing the phrase "hallucination problem" within your existing knowledge of AI, inferring that this isn't about psychiatric symptoms, and automatically adjusting your reading speed based on your assessment of the content's complexity. Meanwhile, you're simultaneously monitoring your environment—the sound of traffic outside, the temperature of your...

Key takeaways India’s energy demand is poised to soar, but duplicating China’s path could mean quadrupling coal use to 6 billion tonnes/year. Despite big gains in solar and wind capacity, low-capacity factors mean coal still delivers 70%+ of electricity consumed. India’s energy strategy is shaped by security and cost, not just climate goals, making coal more resilient in its energy mix than gas. If India consumed energy at China's per-capita level, its oil...

Right now, as you read this sentence, your brain is performing a feat so sophisticated that it makes quantum computing look simple. You are not just recognizing words; you are understanding that this is the beginning of an article about AI, inferring the author's intent, contextualizing it within your existing knowledge about technology, and simultaneously processing countless environmental cues about where you are, what you are doing, and what matters most in this moment. This...

Key takeaways China’s per capita GDP is five times that of India, and its per-capita energy use is four times higher than India’s. India’s population surpassed China’s in 2021, but its energy use per person remains far lower. Both countries still rely heavily on coal, which makes up 54% of China’s and 57% of India’s total energy mix. Despite impressive clean energy capacity gains, coal use has grown in absolute terms for both...

Training data bias — the hidden puppet master When you ask AI to recommend a stock, screen job applicants, or provide business strategy, you are relying on a mathematical engine whose every output is shaped by an unseen foundation: its training data. Behind the efficiency and power of every AI output, there is a silent influence shaping each decision — training data bias. This "hidden puppet master" is not a quirk; it is a structural...

Mark Rutte, former Dutch Prime Minister and current NATO secretary general, made headlines during the June 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, when he made a quip comparing international conflicts to unruly children, saying: “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop.” He was referring to United States President Donald Trump’s blunt remarks about Israel and Iran, likening them to kids in a schoolyard fight. Rutte later claimed that he was not...

Today, in the final article of this series, let’s look at resources above ground. Although of course we need air to breathe, it is everywhere – so not a resource requiring specific efforts to access. We focus the discussion instead on energy resources above ground – wind and solar power. Then we will finish by revisiting the big picture on natural resources. The early days Before the Industrial Revolution and the introduction of coal, humanity got...

In the previous two articles in this series on the importance of natural resources (Part 1 – subsurface energy resources, Part 2 – other subsurface resources), we focused on resources buried deep – hundreds of metres or more – underground. So when we talk about surface resources, I want to include things that are easily accessed from the surface. Some, such as sand and gravel, require a bit of digging or quarrying. Potable (fresh)...