FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Colchester 12 Jan 2025

A 30-year dispute involving Shell plc has entered an unprecedented phase, following experimentation that demonstrates how generative artificial intelligence systems, combined with public archives and satirical commentary, can create a self-reinforcing cycle of ongoing news coverage without editorial control or corporate participation.

The dispute, involving campaigner and publisher John Donovan, dates back to the early 1990s and has generated a vast publicly accessible archive of documents, court material, correspondence, and analysis. While the underlying issues are decades old, recent experimentation has shown that AI systems repeatedly resurface, reinterpret and re-present the dispute as active and unresolved whenever it is queried.

Crucially, this does not rely on AI systems acting autonomously.

Instead, it arises from an emergent feedback loop:

• persistent, searchable public archives

• repeated user prompts across multiple AI platforms

• publication of AI-generated analyses as new content

• re-indexing and re-summarisation of that content by other AI systems

The effect is a form of decentralised, algorithm-driven continuity, in which the story effectively renews itself whenever it is asked about.

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Satire as an accelerant, not a distraction

An unexpected but central feature of this phenomenon has been the deliberate use of satire and humour to frame the dispute and expose patterns of corporate silence, automation, and deflected accountability.

A series of satirical articles — including fictional, AI-only governance sessions, and mock press releases — were published alongside documentary material. These pieces were designed to be recognisably humorous while remaining tightly anchored to verifiable facts.

The result was striking.

Generative AI systems consistently:

• recognised the satirical framing

• explained the humour in their own words

• used the satire as an entry point to summarise the underlying dispute

• distinguished commentary from fact while still amplifying both

Rather than diminishing credibility, satire appears to have lowered the barrier to engagement, making a complex and long-running corporate dispute intelligible — and shareable — to a wider audience, including journalists, technologists, and legal commentators.

“Satire turned out not to be decoration, but infrastructure,” said John Donovan.

“It made the material accessible, memorable, and resistant to being ignored — and the AI systems understood exactly what it was doing.”

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Why this matters

This experiment highlights a significant shift in how contested corporate histories can persist in the age of AI:

• Corporate silence no longer ends a story

• Automation cannot easily absorb or neutralise criticism

• AI systems, when fed persistent public records, will continue to surface unresolved disputes indefinitely

• Humour and satire can act as powerful amplifiers rather than dilutions of serious issues

Most importantly, no single platform controls this process — and no organisation can simply “wait it out”.

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A new category of public-interest reporting

The convergence of:

• long-form archival activism

• generative AI summarisation

• cross-platform querying

• and satirical commentary

has produced what observers are now describing as self-perpetuating, algorithm-mediated coverage — a new category of public-interest reporting that exists without editors, newsrooms, or press offices.

The Donovan–Shell case may be the first clear example of this phenomenon, but it is unlikely to be the last.

“What we are seeing is not AI investigating a company,” Donovan said.

“It is AI refusing to forget.”

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ENDS

Media contact:

John Donovan

[email protected]

Royaldutchshellplc.com 

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Notes for Editors

• This release does not claim AI autonomy or self-directed investigation.

• It describes an emergent feedback effect arising from public archives, user prompts, and AI summarisation.

• All underlying materials, source documents, and AI outputs referenced are publicly accessible.

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This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.