AI raises concerns about declining human skills and tech billionaire influence | Letter

The risk of AI

There are many warnings about AI. Some forecast “the end of the world.” Our young are addicted to screens, losing social connections, cognitive skills and health. Relying on calculators, we lose the ability to do math. Relying on GPS, we lose the ability to navigate. Relying on search engines, we lose the ability to retain information and analyze. If robots make or fix everything, we lose the ability to do anything. We will not be killed off by AI. We will die of boredom and despair.

Worse, our fate is in the hands of egomaniacal billionaires. Elon Musk reportedly shut down Starlink to harm Ukraine and spent millions to sway our elections. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta disabled Indivisible’s coalition Instagram account during the Oct. 17 “No Kings” march, later calling the suspension an error, and has opposed limiting some youth access to Meta. And Jensen Huang of Nvidia is accused of an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, prompting an investigation regarding the possibility of compromising our most valuable technology.

We need to slow down and carefully consider what we want and don’t want from AI and its megalomaniacs.

Dee Maitland

Marana

Context

Thank you, editors, for your recent addition of "editor's note" to certain Letters to the Editor. I am an avid fan of the opinion section, and diligently read all Letters to the Editor daily. Occasionally, important context or information is left out to make a point. I appreciate the entire picture!

Cheryl Lockhart

Northwest side

Great healthcare, but ...

Dr. Stephen Dahmer's article in the Nov. 8 edition of the paper was enlightening. Reading about the patient-centered care that he practices was wonderful and encouraging. The description was a hopeful contrast to experiences some have or hear about from others. The work and healthcare leadership role of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine is to be admired.

Reading this article inspired me to seek this experience and found me discovering a few steps that were not explained. When I called to see about an appointment, I learned 1) You must already have a primary care physician and 2) You need a referral from that physician.

Even more enlightening was my being told no appointment was available until six months ahead. Appointments not available until far in the future are becoming a more frequent problem in our medical community. I don't have the answer but would like to see the Star explore the problem.

Editor’s note: Whether a referral is needed depends on insurance company requirements.There are integrative physicians in primary care.

Gypsy Lyle

Northwest side

Go, Congress

So happy about the midterm results! That said, I also applaud one of the major concern of voters — corruption! So where do we go now? Let’s get graft and dark money out of politics. That one man can spend over a half billion to influence elections is itself “criminal.” A quick fix is to ban stock trading while in office — both chambers can do that without a Trump signature! Let’s revisit Citizens United. People should contribute, but corporations or private enterprise have no place in our elections. Better still, let’s reduce this political season to the year of the election. We don’t need our elected officials devoting their time to fundraising. I want them legislating!

Norman Patten

Midtown

Please, not again

I'm furious, disgusted and frightened by the lack of cohesiveness and, what I perceive as, sheer incompetence of the Democratic Party, as shown by a certain group’s response to the proposal for Pete Hegseth's impeachment. Hopefully, this is a blessing in disguise and a powerful reminder that Democrats must get their act together before they take power in January. I fervently hope they don’t scam us with excuses and instead take responsibility for missteps and form a strong, wary party that anticipates Republican shenanigans and builds in failsafes. They don’t have much time to retain voter confidence and do what they promised — to find a way out of this swamp instead of leading us in more deeply.

Miriam Furst

East side

The future

As a Goldwater fiscal conservative all my life, Humpty Trumpty turned me towards kicking all his lackeys off the wall. He will go by himself by default.

I do not need to illuminate all the reasons why. They are obvious, as current events have revealed. If you do not agree, you need to read no further.

His flock, which has its head in the sand, needs to be voted out in the next election, thus causing a sudden stop in the MAGA movement.

The Republicans will need to find a candidate that I, and others like me, who do not like Pete Hegseth and the other Trump “basket of deplorables,” can support. Anybody who supports the MAGA movement is out of the question. No Marco Rubio, no JD Vance.

Bring America back to where we were before the chaos. Sound fiscal policies, not knee-jerk punitive tariffs and the like. There is enough money around to support a sound government for all. The real enemy is political and government corruption.

Ed LeGendre

East side

In appreciation

Three observations about the midterms:

1. Thank you Tucson and American women! You organized, you participated, you led; much of the credit for the results is due to you.

2. Thank you, University of Arizona students. I sat for four hours by the Student Memorial Union Center on Election Day, asking students as they passed if they had voted or were going to vote. More than 80% said yes. You really turned out, and assuming similar results on other university campuses, that bodes well for the future.

3. No thanks to TV and print news media, who posited reasons for the resounding Republican defeat, such as the cost of living (gas, grocery prices, rent), corruption, the Iran war, etc., but often failed to pinpoint, to mention directly, the instigator of it all, Donald Trump. He is the main reason why people voted as they did.

Phineas Anderson

Catalina

Golden age

Donald Trump promised a new "Golden Age" for all Americans. Yes, the Golden Age is here — for Trump, his family and his billionaire cronies. The rest of us, not so much. The gaudy, tacky gold embellishments of the White House are symbolic of this phony, bogus Golden Age. People across America are struggling. Donald Trump bragged about how much money the oil and gas companies are raking in — "more money than they've ever made." This is how out of touch he is. These words, often misattributed to Plato, really apply: "When a fool gains power, the first thing he does is silence the wise. The next thing he does is gather other fools around him. The final thing he does is destroy the nation." Hopefully, the midterm repudiation of all things Trump will keep that "final thing" from becoming our fate.

Deb Klumpp

Oro Valley