Here is this week’s letter to the editor of the Sheboygan Press. See our letters policy below for details about how to share your views.
Natural rights and the need for AI protections
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. It was a powerful declaration that natural rights, endowed by our Creator, give every person a chance to make life meaningful in America, a clear contrast to the divine right of kings, shifting power from one ruler to the promise of generations to come.
250 years later, it is time for America to preserve this truth, that every person has the natural right to their own destiny, to their own future, to be who they want to be, to work where they choose, to strive for better, to struggle for freedom, and to call for change.
We stumble, we fail, we contradict ourselves, but those rights endure.
In a time when artificial intelligence threatens jobs, opportunity, education and even the nature and gift of what makes us human, we must hear the warnings of Carl Sagan, who called for America to open her arms to the thousands of modern-day Jeffersons and John Adams who believe in natural rights but are held back by low wages, lack of opportunity, limited education and rights that feel earned rather than given.
For our generation, and for our children’s generation, I call for a new bill of rights on this grand anniversary to ensure the protection of human rights when AI knocks on our door. One that echoes Franklin D. Roosevelt and his fight to make employment, education and opportunity fundamental rights that are self-evident.
We cannot be late. We must act.
Mason Chambers
Sheboygan
Our letters policy
Letters to the editor are published in the order in which they are received and letter-writers are limited to having one letter published per month. Letters can be emailed to news@sheboyganpress.com and Editor Brandon Reid at breid@usatodayco.com. Letters must meet specific guidelines, including being no more than 250 words and be from local authors or on topics of local interest. All submissions must include the name of the person who wrote the letter, their city of residence and a contact phone number. Letters are edited as needed for style, grammar, length, fairness, accuracy and libel.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan letter calls for AI protections as rights issue
Reporting by Sheboygan Press / Sheboygan Press
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