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 July 20
On media balance
“This is an excellent article. Accurate and fair, educative and temperate. I am a secondary teacher and this is the type of article that all senior students need to read: not just for its social comment but as a guide to how they process and re-present the complexities, dichotomies and dissonance that are an inherent part of a functioning society. Thank you Professor Greste.”
Christine Petersen 
AI and the public service
“AI is already shedding jobs in IT, accounting and many other business sectors. My query is if AI will be used to reduce the widespread duplication and overservicing in parts of local, state and federal government? Productivity is said to be very low in Australia and maybe non-existent in the government currently and this technology could reduce the cost of government. With years of deficits predicted by the federal government and the highest inflation in Western countries, surely it is time to reduce public service numbers in Australia?”
Brendan Lovel
Tuesday July 21
The Greek fire mystery
“About fifty years ago when I lived on the island of Djerba in present-day Tunisia, I became friendly with an elderly Greek man who had been a diver. He and others had found an ancient underwater wreck, from which they had extracted so many Greek or Roman coins that his sole income then was occasionally selling a few coins, via his bank in Paris. He told me they also retrieved a still-sealed terracotta container. When they opened it one of the divers smelled the contents, said it was foul and he died soon after. After discussion, we decided it might have been a phosphorus compound. I now wonder if phosphorus could have been an ingredient of Greek fire.”
Rory McGuire, Pyrmont
Assessing the ABC
“What a cogent discussion by Professor Greste on an appropriate form of media reporting. Essentially, he bends a belief to suit facts, while Commissioner Jillian Segal of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion demands the facts be bent to fit a certain belief, which would go along well with any propaganda war.”
Ang Ung
AI protections
“If we do not have strict copyright protection, much valuable writing, design work and ideas will be stolen from Australians and Australian companies and developed overseas. This would result in Australia continuing to be just a source of materials, rather than a place that uses the skills of Australians to build things here for use here and to sell overseas. If used without adequate thought, it could make life very hard for all, as AI does not care about how its decisions affect people and makes our lives boring.”
Fred Richter
Wednesday July 22
The cost of isolation
“As an NDIS participant, I’m frustrated by an important omission in discussions of proposed social and community access cuts. I don’t want to be stuck at home becoming increasingly isolated and increasingly dependent on support. If I’m capable of doing my shopping, with some help, I don’t want to stay home and hand it over to a support worker. I don’t want to be stuck at home just so shopping can be billed under domestic assistance, instead of community access.”
Grace Cameron, Ballina NSW
Care ratios in the NDIS
We took care of our level 3 non-verbal autistic grandson from age 7 to 14. NDIS and ENU fund his care and he has a 2:1 ratio. Very recently we’ve been advised that this ratio will increase to 3:1. We see this as a direct cost-saving initiative by NDIS. I wonder where the staff will come from and how the company can retain a consistent core team of employees overseeing his and another two clients’ best interests. The difficulty for care staff needs consideration in setting ratios, as well as the best interests of those being cared for. It should have scrutiny and be brought to public attention as other NDIS cost-cutting measures are being challenged.“
Chris Worsman
A bridge too far
”In this article, the photo of the bridge is titled ‘A suspension bridge in the city of Karaj, northern Iran…’. That’s incorrect, it’s a cable-stayed bridge. The main difference is a suspension bridge has one or more (commonly two) catenary cables from end to end. A cable-stayed bridge has separate multiple cables, supporting the deck from one or more towers. The difference is germane to the article, because if a suspension cable fails/is destroyed, it usually leads to complete collapse of one or more spans; but cable stays have a degree of redundancy.“
Chris Harris
Thursday July 23
Will AusAlert work for all?
"Thanks very much for explaining this new warning system. I have received the message from Aus Alert but had no idea that on 27 July an alarm will actually ring out on my phone! I too am very concerned about the AusAlert information only being in English. Many neighbours are from other countries. Their first languages are not English.”
Jane Morrison
Preparing for the worst
“I wonder what risk management processes Telstra and other telcos use? I spent many years in risk management for an Australian industry where major failure could cause serious public inconvenience as well as possible fatalities, property damage and environmental impacts. Yet we had failure rates that are a small fraction of those in any other country. The essence of our system was brainstorming "what could go wrong?” using a process that was highly structured yet open to all suggestions. It sounds as if Telstra’s risk identification processes fell well short of that.“
Peter Tuft
Friday July 24
Accepting failures
"I can’t help commenting that in the current ‘cultural’ climate of ‘anger, frustration and general dissatisfaction’ with so many systems and services, that we constantly demand 100% reliability and accessibility in them. It’s simply not possible. We should be prepared to accept a level of failure from time to time. I spent many years in the energy sector dealing with a market that always wanted that kind of reliability, but was not prepared to pay the cost. Imagine your energy or telco or any other subscription or service bill doubling tomorrow! Happy? Not! So, we shouldn’t expect, or even ask for that level of service. I understand it doesn’t seem fair, but it’s reality.”
Roger Yeo, Salamander Bay, NSW
Expect to be disappointed
“Your ‘How do I get my book published’ should have included a 6th point which is 'Expect disappointment’. Publishers are very choosy about what they publish. For a manuscript to be accepted, the book must have clear commercial appeal. Many would-be authors (especially those compiling local histories), having experienced rejection from mainstream publishers, turn to self-publishing without appreciating the need for effective distribution, without knowing the commercial demands of booksellers, newsagents and other possible outlets.”
Peter Lacey, South Coast History Society president