Emma Brockes’ piece resonated deeply (It’s finally happened: I’m now worried about AI. And consulting ChatGPT did nothing to allay my fears, 8 April). Currently, I am studying Marc Bloch’s Strange Defeat, where the respected French historian and eventual resistance fighter executed by the Nazis provides an eyewitness report on the French military’s downfall in 1940. He partly blames the catastrophe on the French commanders’ lack of foresight, as they could not comprehend how advancements in technology and warfare had transformed since 1918. Brockes’ writing implies that society and its decision-makers are facing a similar blind spot, failing to recognize that a technology now seen as entertaining yet concerning could progress into something far more serious. According to Bloch, the future Marshal Ferdinand Foch once rejected airplanes as mere playthings without value for warfare. Bloch describes the 1940 blitzkrieg as resembling past colonial conflicts, but with the French side equipped like primitives using basic weapons. It is deeply troubling to consider what an unregulated AI might do to our outdated defenses in the coming decade or two. Peregrine Rand Paris, France • Share your views on any Guardian content today? Send us your letter via email for potential inclusion in our letters page.
