‘Forget artificial intelligence what about the threat of genuine stupidity’
What are your thoughts on the ominous progress of Artificial Intelligence do you think humanity can harness it for good?
In the midst of Rishi Sunak’s AI Safety Summit on the dangers of artificial intelligence, a reader has written in to suggest that though it poses a threat to humanity in the future, there might be more immediate concerns for the Prime Minister to address…
Meanwhile, readers are discussing COVID ineptitude, unqualified government ministers, questioning the existence of young brexiteers, insufficient apologies for the terrible actions of the past, and flicking through a retro copy of Metro from 2003.
What do you think about our readers’ letters today?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
'The threat of AI may be the wrong priority right now...'
While Rishi Sunak was probably quite right in calling a summit at Bletchley Park to assess the risks presented by artificial intelligence, it does rather appear that it may be the wrong priority for the moment.
Most of the ills that have befallen this country in the past few years – as particularly evinced by the Covid Inquiry – seem to suggest that the more imminent danger is ‘genuine stupidity’. Julian Self, Wolverton
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If you can’t beat it…
Peter (MetroTalk, Tue) suggests ‘not going ahead’ with AI given the dangers it poses. That is wishful thinking, I’m afraid.
The technology is here already and only going to become more sophisticated.
Its dangers are the very reason it must be taken seriously. In the wrong hands, it could wreak havoc on society, not least in next year’s elections, so it is for us to stay on top of it, rather than allow those with bad intentions to exploit our weakness. Ruth, London
Train it?
AI would help with numerous medical illnesses and make our daily lives just that little bit easier (Metro, Thu).
Or, to put it another way, push up world population further and make people more reliant on machinery.
Does anyone else envisage a Logan’s Run type scenario, when basically it was game over for anyone over the age of 30? Dec, Essex
‘Boris Johnson and his minister’s had no experience or expertise regarding Covid’
Much as I abhor former prime minister Boris Johnson, I don’t think we can blame him for all that went wrong with Covid, as Al, Charlton, does (MetroTalk, Wed).
This notwithstanding the fact that his comments about old people, which other Tory MPs agreed with – that the virus was ‘nature’s way of dealing with’ them and they should let the young live their life – should never be forgotten.
Unfortunately, most of our ministers have little or no experience on the matters they oversee, whether that be military, health, education or finance.
Unlike in industry, where jobs are given to those with suitable qualifications/experience, ministers’ appointments appear to be based not on what you know but who you know.
Or perhaps there are no MPs with the relevant qualifications or experience. Annie, Didcot
Peter (MetroTalk, Thu) says our government was not alone in making mistakes dealing with Covid.
What he may fail to realise is that other countries had lockdown in place earlier, used proper PPE where the UK tried to get it on the cheap from Turkey, did not give mixed messages about staying at home or going to work, did not oversee a fiasco in our care homes, nor have a leader state ‘let the bodies pile high’ or hold parties in lockdown. This, nor being responsible for the biggest financial nightmare this country has ever seen – Brexit. Patrick, London
‘The Covid-inquiry is enough to put you off conspiracy theories for life’
Anyone who thinks the government is remotely capable of pulling off a nefarious plan, whether concerning vaccines, 5G or chemtrails, should just listen to the incompetence exposed in the Covid Inquiry. Neil, Sutton Coldfield
Am I the only one who thinks that Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, ‘doth protest to much’?
It seems that he was surrounded by idiots but he was right, correct and perfect in most of his actions. I think anybody would have trouble dealing with what – hopefully – is a once-in-a-century event. Jim, South-east London
According to data 70% of young people want to remain in the EU
Congratulations to Billy (MetroTalk, Thu) for providing an example of a typical Brexiteer letter.
He starts off by denying a fact – that young people disapprove of Brexit (a YouGov poll in August showed 70 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds would vote to re-join). His reason? ‘Brexit was the best thing we ever did.’
The rest of the letter consists of more slogans – ‘It is called freedom’, ‘Brexit is here to stay’, ‘We don’t need EU control’ and an insult – ‘You may be a sheep’. No facts, no logic, no reality. Martin, London
‘”Great sorrow and deepest regret” isn’t the same as saying sorry for the past’
King Charles says he feels the ‘greatest sorrow and deepest regret’ but stops short of apologising to the Kenyan people for the barbarity done to the Mau Mau warriors fighting colonial rule.
This abomination needs to be addressed, because I have been hearing from the usual ignorant mob who know nothing about what the Europeans did to the Mau Mau people.
Well let me enlighten the ill-educated: some of the males were castrated and more than 11,000 lost their valuable lives.
Why is it that whenever we people of colour bring up historical injustices like the slave trade, some Caucasians talk about it in disparaging ways, telling us to move on and stop wallowing in the past.
I never hear these ignorant people talk about the Holocaust and telling Jews to stop wallowing.
It is a pity that our black suffering is ignored and our suffering made to seem irrelevant. It makes my blood boil. Joyce, Tottenham
Retro Metro, a correction of painful proportion and a lesson from history
I found a copy of Metro dated February 18, 2003, and these are some of the articles published on that day.
The Congestion Charge had just been introduced in London and Mayor Ken Livingstone was accused of rephasing traffic lights to make the new project a success.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson angrily kicked a boot into David Beckham’s face after they lost an FA Cup match to Arsenal.
The latest mobile phones were Nokia 3510, 3650, 5100, 6100, Samsung T100, S100 and N620. The last bit really made me laugh out loud. Conley, London
I have enjoyed the Today In History item you started publishing this year. There have been some interesting events mentioned.
However, I was disappointed that on October 31, one very significant event was not mentioned. That was that in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses of the faith on the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral in Germany.
It has been marked as the beginning of the Reformation, which brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to many people throughout the world.
No doubt a lot of people would not be interested in that event but it still should be mentioned, as there are plenty of events listed that a lot of people are not interested in. Larry, Salford
You reported Gywneth Paltrow’s £12,360 vibrator as having a diameter of 14in (Metro, Thu). A misprint? Otherwise, that’s even more outrageous than the price.
Judy, Dorset [Ouch. Well spotted, Judy. A lesson in the importance of decimal points, here. It is 1.4in wide – Ed]
Wasn’t the world a better place before LED headlights? They make staring at the sun a pleasure in comparison. The Gorgon, Livingston
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