Your say: week beginning May 18

Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au.

Monday May 18

AI may not be conscious, but who is?

“Koplin and Moss do a great job in debunking the idea of AI consciousness through a clear explanation of the mechanics of AI. But if AI is not actually ‘thinking’ (ie. simply calculating the probable best response based on frequency in the data set) it seems to me that the same unthinking responses occur in 95% of interactions between people in most social situations. But every now and again we experience ‘real’ conversations – a genuine encounter with someone else where you can be your genuine self: not just programmed answers, not just rehashing what is already known. How do we consistently have those sort of encounters? The challenge of AI (one of many) is how do I/we be more of what makes us human?”

Paul Robertson

Frozen shoulder woes

“Frozen shoulders are just horrible! Nowhere is there any decent documentation on how much your daily activities are going to change. It can be humiliating and for me, it took up to 50 times longer (yes, 50) to do things I used to complete in a few seconds. I hesitated to get cortisone injections because I was scared by so many horror stories I had heard. My pain specialist justified every cent I paid him by the care and time he and the nurse took to keep me calm and complete the 2 injections I had in my shoulder. Between that, the exercises I did almost every day and regular physio, I have almost full movement again. The pain has reduced but has never completely gone even with a high dose of nerve blockers the whole time. I digress, it was a good article but surprising that nerve blockers were not mentioned, they helped me when the pain was so severe. Yet pleased the article didn’t mention any of that rubbish about ‘pushing through the pain’ – thanks for that.”

Shirley Allen, ACT

Tuesday May 19

Reining in specialist fees

“There is another, fifth option to regulate specialist fees that could be considered based on an existing Federal Government initiative, that is missing from Anthony Scott’s otherwise insightful article. The Health Department could build upon the existing Urgent Care Centres (UCC) network by setting up ‘specialist centres’ which could even co-exist at the UCC. The medical specialists could be employed directly by the Federal Government or agree to bulk bill the consultations as a trade for functioning without any administrative or overhead costs. These specialists would operate much like a medical specialist at a private clinic, receiving referrals from GPs, organising appropriate investigations using off-site providers and allow individuals to access specialist medical services that are free at the point of care for patients. These clinics could also provide effective price competition for other providers in the area, while still providing individuals with options and choices of provider that are absolutely integral to the provision of health care in Australia.”

Yun Hwang, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

What’s driving tradies away?

“I was very interested in your article regarding five possible reasons for the shortage of tradespeople and apprentices. Judging by the awful stories of hazing and poor pay, the treatment of workers and poor safety would have to be a major reason. Who would be comfortable with their child being on a building site? The unprofessional workplaces and misogyny coupled with poor building standards would put off a lot of potential apprentices and cause the braver ones to leave. If we were focusing on building homes to live in (and not just for builders to sell) and if they were sustainable and part of an aspirational future surely this would engage future tradies?”

Jane D

The gift of language

“A foreign language is not just a tool for communicating. It’s a signal of respect and the extension of a hand of friendship, a gift of an effort made to relate and to share. The effort of learning a language is not just about ‘acquiring knowledge’. It’s the gift of making the effort. Using AI doesn’t make the effort, it avoids it. And that avoidance increases barriers to reciprocal relationships. In the eyes of the other party, using AI for language diminishes the AI user.”

Glen Davis, NSW