AI is helping researchers, urban planners, activists and even companies prevent damage to the climate.

"For example, the algorithm analyzes whether there are protected species in an area before the installation of wind farms and whether the designers need to change their plans," says Léa Manneheut, a data scientist at Sinay. If there are a lot of animals at planned construction sites, the noise pollution during the work can at least be reduced with certain insulation measures. Manneheut and her colleagues at Sinay have observed that companies are also paying increasing attention to environmental and climate aspects for image reasons. "There is growing pressure from the public," she says. Researcher Lynn Kaack of the Hertie School says there is a still a lot of catching up to do in terms of interdisciplinary experts working together.

Employers understandably are looking to technology to help resolve the skills gap dilemma. Scanning resumes for relevant-to-the-job data has sped up the initial process of weeding out candidates. And machine intelligence is capable of scanning other information on candidates, such as social media content and work samples, even facial expressions. Technology has the capacity to make talent selection fairer, especially in diversity hiring. Technology can uncover unconscious bias in hiring and help recruiters discover their own bias when selecting candidates -- though it is not a panacea for diversity problems.

Ulta Beauty chain is adding a new "consultant" to its in-store team. Through its partnership with hair color brand Madison Reed, Ulta is deploying a color-recognition chatbot (called Madi) that gives consultations similar to those customers receive from a professional colorist in a hair salon. Described by Madison Reed as the industry's first-ever color-recognition chatbot, Madi combines artificial intelligence and selfies to engage in-store shoppers. Here's how it works: In- store customers looking for a hair color text "Hello" to 34757, activating Madi on their mobile device. The tool will prompt the shopper to upload a selfie focused on her face and hair, then followup with a few quick questions.

Physical beauty is subjective and often difficult to define. But for the robot jury of Beauty.AI, an online competition billed as "the first international beauty contest judged by artificial intelligence," beauty is calculated by a set of complex algorithms that measure parameters like participants' facial symmetry and skin quality. The contest, launched in December, is an experiment by Youth Laboratories, an international team of data scientists and biogerontologists interested in developing anti-aging technologies. Its aim is to test and demonstrate how computers can learn to assess human attractiveness. The robot jury uses algorithms to analyze and rate participants' selfies submitted through the Beauty.AI app.