A COMPUTER company in America does an update and half the world stops.

Thousands of flights across the world cancelled, NHS in turmoil and GPs and chemists unable to prescribe effectively for patients and many places only able to take cash, cash, that worldwide commodity that banks and other institutions are doing there best to abolish .

And all this down to a ‘friendly’ error, imagine the scenario should a hostile power decide to do a bit of computer jiggery pokery. Doesn’t bear thinking about.

Whilst I’m on the subject of computers with all the associated internet, social media and now artificial intelligence, I read a few worrying pieces of information today. Apparently, one of the biggest lakes in Mexico, Lake Constitucion, is shrinking rapidly ruining the livelihoods of families who have relied on it for centuries.

It appears that the biggest drain on it is for cooling water to stop all the computer server centres that are needed to keep all this technology going from overheating. All the burgeoning artificial intelligence is likely to make this much worse. Another thing I read was that Google in the year 2022-2023, through all its energy usage to keep operating, pumped 14 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. A worrying amount that in a year it would take not one, not even ten, but 29 gas fired power stations to equal.

And that’s just Google, presumably many of the other online giants are doing something similar to the atmosphere. Surely all the various ecological campaigners should be on this, our new minister for net zero should be jumping up and down throwing his teddies in all available corners. But not a peep out of any of them. Why not I wonder. Oh of course, social media, these peoples’ life blood. They wouldn’t be able to force their eco Zealotry on us without it.

Paul Morley

Long Preston