10/30/23

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            What’s at the top of your mind today? I suppose Gaza has the majority of your neurons firing as it has so many of us, including a couple of new folks at our Quaker meeting yesterday. They were eager to find other peace advocates. I hope we satisfied their craving.

            Are you ready for the AI meeting this afternoon? Our recent obsession with AI has me scratching my head. It was NOT invented yesterday. In fact, I just found a fascinating article “An AI experiment in college math education” written at Harvard in 2003.

Let’s not cultivate a culture of fear around AI & create dependence on the government to protect us. Let’s stay calm & point out its capabilities & limitations. Computers can learn but they can’t feel. They can tell when a student gets a wrong answer, but they can’t gauge whether this is causing dissonance. If we hooked students up to a cortisol monitoring device, then the robot would have an indicator that the student is anxious & could respond accordingly, but without human empathy. Great teachers provide that.

            To my knowledge, robots aren’t passionate, either. They don’t give off a vibe of excitement when doing something they love. Our best teachers do that, too.  

            On other matters, please ask your people about “Operation 1027” which the Diplomat is calling, a possible “turning point” in Burma’s conflict. They note it is “a real assessment of the junta’s military strength” which seems to be waning. It could ignite more battles in other parts of Burma & since the “junta’s artillery shelling has reached the Chinese border, resulting in damage to civilian houses in China” XJ may change his mind about whose side he’s on.

            Please keep Burma top of mind.

            Have fun distributing candy at your WH Halloween event this PM. I look forward to seeing whether you &/or Jill come up with some kind of costume.

            BYBS,