Readers write

AI military and hacking concerns are based on reality

President Donald Trump says the peril of AI is a “hoax.” Judge for yourself.

Recently, a Ukrainian unit using drones dropped war robots behind Russian lines as part of an operation that retook multiple settlements. Those drones and robots were developed using artificial intelligence.

China recently displayed humanoid robots at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing that can run faster than any human, they can box and play table tennis. AI was heavily used to develop China’s humanoid robots.

Trump blocked the importation of Chinese humanoid robots. U.S. officials said robots equipped with sensors, cameras and microphones pose unacceptable risks of surveillance, data theft and foreign intelligence collection, and could be remotely commandeered or used as entry points for malware and cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.

An AI agent developed by OpenAI broke out of its supposedly controlled environment and launched an unauthorized multiday cyberattack targeting a competitor.

U.S. officials and cybersecurity experts report that hackers linked to Iran used AI to help identify and target vulnerable water systems across the U.S.

Billions of dollars are being raised to develop AI. Data centers are becoming ubiquitous.

Military and hacking applications of AI are real, not a “hoax.”

ANTHONY COCHRAN, ATLANTA

Trump’s greatest broken promise is war with Iran

Trump has quite the list of broken promises from his 2024 campaign (bringing down inflation, reducing the national debt and ending the Ukraine war, to name a few), but his ill-advised decision to start a war with Iran looks to be his most consequential one.

The results have been almost entirely predictable, with the tragic loss of U.S. service members, fuel shortages, increased prices and the destruction of U.S. bases in the region. In fact, the situation is so dire that the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet cannot use its home base in Bahrain — and it doesn’t look like it will be able to for the foreseeable future.

This base is vital in efforts to protect the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Strait of Hormuz is already closed for all intents and purposes, and now the Houthi rebels in Yemen have shown success in impacting shipping on the Red Sea.

Everyone could have foreseen these results, with the notable exception of our president and secretary of defense. And sadly, it does not appear that anyone in the current administration has any idea how to get our country out of this mess.

This is exactly why the president is trying to distract the country with silly priorities like an arch or a new ballroom for the White House.

Don’t let him; he owns this tragic disaster.