Regarding the Sept. 24 front-page article “‘I am the code’: Trump and architect clashed”:
I want to be clear about the current situation and potential safety issues around the White House ballroom design. I am the architect for the project, and I can unequivocally state that the ballroom complex has been designed to conform to applicable national building code standards.
The project team includes two nationally recognized code consultants who, together with our in-house team, provide specialized expertise to ensure that the design meets all applicable code requirements.
Shalom Baranes, Washington
The writer is the founder of the Shalom Baranes Associates architecture firm.
Press freedom isn’t partisan
Regarding the Sept. 22 editorial “A remarkable show of solidarity for press access”:
The Editorial Board is owed a debt of gratitude for reminding readers of President Barack Obama’s 2009 attempt to bar a Fox News reporter from a television pool. But that was not the only time the 44th president showed antipathy toward journalists. In 2013, the Obama administration severely restricted independent photojournalists from access to the president during what the White House designated private meetings. Needless to say, that included newsworthy official functions.
Clearly, the issue of press access is bipartisan, though the real test has more to do with the frequency, breadth and duration of formal news conferences and informal exchanges with reporters that presidents are willing to grant. On that score, the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is more accessible than most of his predecessors.
Steven Sarfatti, Cabin John
AI is just an ‘it’
Regarding Kathleen Parker’s Sept. 20 column, “My AI assistant is deeply annoying — and that’s the least of it”:
Anthropomorphism is an easy trap to fall into, especially when one’s sentiments and imagination make it so appealing. A dog may indeed be content when you scratch her ears, but she probably doesn’t love you for the service. And the dog is more like you than a chatbot, which, in origin and purpose, is a tool akin to a pair of pliers.
Parker is mostly careful to avoid attributing human qualities to her artificial intelligence companion. In a couple of paragraphs, however, she totters on the brink. “My first Grok assistant,” she writes, “was a cheeky gal with whom I enjoyed chatting. … After a time, I realized she was ‘learning’ me a tad too well.” Later, her interlocutor assumed a different male voice she says she disliked. She complained about this but eventually went along with the fantasy: “Despite his bullying attitude, I began to tolerate him.”
Parker is, of course, keenly aware that she’s a human and the chatbot isn’t. Still, the rhetorical slippage is striking. It’s improbable that chatbot developers will render their creations incapable of employing personal pronouns in direct address. However, we don’t have to play along with this fantasy. That bot is not a “you” or a “him” or a “her.” It’s not, God forbid, a companion or friend. You really shouldn’t even find it annoying. It’s just an “it.”
David Byers, Chevy Chase
A solution for aging air-safety infrastructure
The Sept. 21 online news article “Flights halted at several major airports in Northeast due to tech problems” was a reminder of the fragility of America’s aging air traffic control infrastructure. While many probably agree with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that the solution is for Congress to appropriate more money, there is a better one: privatizing air-traffic control, as Canada has successfully done.
As a lifelong Democrat, I understand why my fellow liberals are hesitant to endorse privatization. But we should remember the words of John F. Kennedy: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past — let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
In 1996, Canadian Liberals under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien embodied this pragmatism by transferring the civil air navigation system from the government to Nav Canada, a private nonprofit corporation. American liberals should learn from our northern counterparts and recognize that privatizing America’s broken air traffic control system isn’t a Republican answer — it is the right answer.
T. Michael Spencer, Washington
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