Jeanette Winterson’s point about AI brings to mind an Isaac Asimov story | Letters

Ed Kelsey and Arthur Gould respond to an interview with the author in which she discussed AI and the future of humanity

I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with Jeanette Winterson (‘There is no inevitable dystopia’: Jeanette Winterson on AI and the future of humanity, 28 October), particularly her quote from Jill Lepore that we are living out the sci-fi books that tech leaders read when they were 13. I was one of those 13-year-olds, and my favourite author was Isaac Asimov.

Many of his stories accurately predicted our modern world, from mobile technology to AI (through his fictional supercomputer Multivac). However, it was Winterson’s closing point – that “of course we will specialise. We need doctors and chemists, but we also need what used to be called well-rounded people” – that really made me smile.

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