AI moratorium call laudable but late
Steve Jobs' and Elon Musk's call for a six-month moratorium on AI research is laudable, but too late.
Just as mankind will lack the resolve to make the sacrifices necessary to save the planet from a climate catastrophe, whether from greed or self-interest, computer researchers will be unable to stop the inevitable march toward sentience, whether from greed, self-interest, or possibly, an assist from the very AI that Jobs and Musk are warning against. Their fears make the often-derided concept of singularity seem not only inevitable, but imminent and unstoppable.
Gloria Anchors
Dunlap
Thoughts, prayers nothing but cop-out
Each time a mass shooting occurs, we hear so many of our leaders offer "their thoughts and prayers." What a cop-out! God must be so tired of hearing these prayers, as if it is up to him to do something about these terrible tragedies.
Why do we keep petitioning God to take care of the problem we created and refuse to deal with? He already has done something -- he has given people common sense. Worldwide, a vast number of countries and their citizens seem to possess this remarkable ability and have enacted sensible gun laws. For some reason, we seem unable to access and use this talent -- so we know it's not God who is refusing to protect people. No other country in the world has mass shootings like we do -- not even close.
When I grew up in the Presbyterian Church, I heard over and over again that God helps those who help themselves. Quit calling on God to solve this problem -- he's too busy mourning the countless people harmed every single day by these shootings. Since God has done his part, when are the rest of us going to do ours?
Nancy Hatch Woodward
Greeson wrong about World Baseball sham
As a lifelong baseball fan, I strongly disagree with Jay Greeson's poorly written, herd-following endorsement of the glorified Little League tournament known as the World Baseball Classic.
With the exception of Latin America and Japan, who really cared about the sham made-for-TV event? (Oh, yes, it got big ratings. So did "Battle of the Network Stars," back in the day.) Can Greeson seriously argue that an American team lacking Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Bryce Harper, among others, was truly representative of the full might of the United States? And what about the American citizens who played for other countries? A true "world classic" should require valid citizenship papers for each team's players.
The fact that several Major League stars suffered serious injuries playing in these meaningless exhibition games should not be shrugged off as a series of freak accidents. These players were injured in a pointless faux event, not stepping off a curb in front of a CARTA bus. For some of us, it's still a little too close to Pearl Harbor to celebrate how wonderfully the grand event was broadcast in Japanese. Trust me.
Roy Morris Jr.