Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments
'There has been no invasion by the US', says reader on Venezuela
I am concerned at the large number of correspondents who do not seem to understand what has happened in Venezuela (MetroTalk, Thu).
There has been no invasion by the US, the illegal and criminal head of state – Nicolás Maduro – has been abducted and replaced by the vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, who betrayed him in the first place. She is a similar criminal but one who does not want to end up behind bars.
The price to be paid was a US corporate takeover of Venezuelan oil and mineral assets. The lesson of Iraq was clear in White House minds – regime change is violent and not usually worth it.
Will the peoples of Venezuela gain freedom and prosperity? Sadly, not in the short term.
In the longer term, however, it is possible that a more democratic capitalist state can emerge, which is something that would have been impossible under the previous socialist gangster regime. And, yes, Greenland is next. It is practically under US strategic control now and will soon come under its economic control – without an invasion.
What is the alternative? For instance, most of Africa is under firm Chinese influence, apart from South Africa, which the Russians control.
The world has always been divided into spheres of influence and I would rather have western influences than the alternative that the Russians presented with their Nazi-style invasion of Ukraine. Chris Shepherd, London
There is a difference between ‘good and bad AI’, reader points out
Note to the government – AI was recently used to identify two distinct subtypes of multiple sclerosis, potentially improving treatment for millions of sufferers of the condition. This is good AI.
AI has also been used to create vast quantities of poor-quality ‘slop’ media – including derivative music, spam videos and deepfake porn. This is bad AI.
The two are very different – the good AI is an analytical machine learning model, while the bad AI is a limited-memory predictive content generator.
Please, learn the difference, stop listening to the big tech billionaires and stop letting the bad AI bypass copyright law. It is destroying our creative industries and our personal privacy.
Make AI content generators follow copyright law, so they can’t copy other people’s work without permission. Thank you. JWA Caley, St Pancras
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Is this country lacking blacksmiths?
Congratulations to 21-year-old Jay Cardall in finding his calling as a blacksmith – one of only 990 in the country – and at such a comparatively young age (Metro paper, Thu).
We’ve been attempting to recruit a like-minded individual for some time.
Our attempts have been unsuccessful due to lack of suitable applicants but his story gives us hope.
It is true that the future of blacksmithing is down to young people like him. Tom Hodgins, J H Porter & Son Ltd, Craftsmen In Iron, Battersea
Local governments should grit paths, not just main roads, says reader
With Storm Goretti hitting hard last week, city councils should also grit the paths, not just the main roads. Snow and ice create treacherous conditions for everyone, pedestrians included. Jean, Leeds
