Imogen West-Knights’ beautiful article about tragedy in polar exploration (26 March) recalled two very different pieces of art. One, Héroes de la Antártida, is a song by the 1980s Spanish group Mecano. A perky disco synth beat surreally accompanies the grim tale of death/cold picking off Robert Falcon Scott’s team one by one. The other, To Build a Fire, a short story by Jack London, traces the fate of a lone and overconfident explorer in the Yukon. There is a universality to the fascination expressed in the article.
Ana Beard
London
• Your editorial on artificial intelligence (31 March) was both interesting and provocative. But it still left me wondering whether “artificial intelligence” is up there with “small crowd” and “old news” as a fundamental oxymoron. As with most things it comes down to definitions, semantics and understanding. I tried running this past my computer, Hal, but he tells me he is not at liberty to discuss it.
David Smith
Accra, Ghana
