Readers' Letters: So sick of Swinney spin on NHS waiting lists

The First Minister chose his words carefully in response to yet another Scottish NHS crisis. He said “ministers are making headway” on the pledge to clear the 78,000 patient backlog by March.

Taking even a few hundred people off this backlog is indeed “making headway” but Scots want this backlog eliminated. Mr Swinney did not say anything about that, did he? This really matters to those on these lists who need urgent action, not interminable SNP spin.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

A year of wishes

May I share an old man's wishes for 2026?

The first is that the eco zealots, who I believe do far more harm than good, start accepting that climate change has gone on since the planet took its first spin. Trying to counter these forces in the ways they suggest is frankly ridiculous.

This is even more the case when it is accepted that by far the world's greatest polluters are, if anything, polluting more. The UK, even Europe, merely make gestures that harm our own poorest and most vulnerable. Our leaders should instead be taking measures to counter and live with these unstoppable forces of nature – not wasting energy in pontificating and posing.

Oh, and my second wish is that Hibs win the Scottish Cup.

On another football note, we are told Donald Trump's administration will be checking visa applications for all World Cup visitors. Those who have participated or taken part in anti-Israel marches and demonstrations, or have used inflammatory language in so doing, may have some problems, it seems.

This could mean some of those ardent Scotland –- and anti-Trump – fans in the SNP may struggle to get the required documents to go. Certainly, their leaders in Holyrood and in Westminster have been very vociferous on matters concerning Israel and President Trump. Watch out for rapid back pedalling.

This seems to be already happening as apparently Stephen Flynn has said President Trump is welcome to have a beer with the Scottish fans at their planned camp in the USA.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Go electric

The Scotsman reports that Edinburgh Council is still intent on a Granton to Royal Infirmary tram line, even when they know that by any accepted accounting standard the existing system is bleeding our desperately scarce money.

Why are they not considering battery powered trams? These are infinitely more flexible, have a lower capital cost, do not need the hugely expensive and disruptive road level infrastructure, and will not cut the total traffic capacity of the roads as the trams have? It defies understanding.

You would hope that no rational central government would give borrowing consent. But, sadly, our current administration has form in this area.

David Hogg, Edinburgh

Man’s work

I was intrigued to read Ewan Peters's letter (31 December). Mr Peters, Wycliffe, “the leading UK-based Bible translator”, would, I'm sure, be the first to caution you, as I do, against trusting an AI translation of the Bible.

All you have to do, to see for yourself how dire computer-based translations can be – of even modern languages like French or Dutch – is to ask your computer to translate a note for you. You will be amazed by the errors, sometimes hilarious, the translation will contain. Downloading a copy of "An Ode to the Spellchecker" would be instructive, too.

Translating ancient texts is a multi-dimensional puzzle, requiring a deep knowledge of the original text, the Bible and an equally thorough understanding of the modern version of language of those who will read it. Additionally, the translator must know the history of that language and the dialect in which the text was written, before any credible translation can be attempted.

I'm afraid that I don't believe that AI is capable of such an undertaking and I dread to think what “misunderstandings” might arise from a computer-based translation of the Bible.

Lovina Roe, Perth

Deep fake fears

I first became aware of AI deep-fakes on YouTube when watching a talk supposedly by Warren Buffet, the American investor and multi-billionaire. It looked like and sounded exactly like him, but some ten years previously, and what he had to say was quite out of his orbit. He was talking about Russia taking Odessa and winning the war.

A day or so later I supposedly watched Professor John Mearsheimer of Chicago University talking about the war in Ukraine – and again about Russia taking Odessa. It was his voice and his image but he appeared too egg-headed and was speaking too quickly for this to really be him.

Both were AI fakes, presumably engineered by actors of the Russian state.

Next I watched another YouTube talk, this time an interview on the UnHerd channel of the real former Greek finance minister and now political commentator Yanis Varoufakis.

Here he explained that he had been the victim of AI deep-fakes which appeared so authentic that they had received many thousands of likes and comments. It took several attempts and ten days for YouTube to remove them, but as soon as one was deleted another popped up. Mr Varoufakis said that some of the AI fakes were again by Russian actors, but others were there just to gain views. He also had been regularly impersonated on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).

Clearly, AI deep-fakes are going to become a major problem in ensuring authenticity in the years ahead.

William Loneskie, Oxton, Lauder, Berwickshire

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