Times letters: Tech-free ‘cloisters' can help young minds

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Sir, I share Niall Ferguson's concern about the catastrophic effect of AI upon cognitive development ('AI's great brain robbery — and how universities can fight back', weekend essay, Jul 5). Founding, in 2007, the UK's only screen-free school, we have established precisely what he calls for: an oasis (or, as he calls it, a 'cloister') from which devices are excluded, where learning is centred around books, handwriting, discussion and real-world activities and relationships. Our academic outcomes prove that it works (74 per cent of GCSEs at grades 9 to 7), and we see very low incidence of mental health issues. My question is: where is Ferguson going to find university students 'capable of coping with the discipline of the cloister' if schools are habituating them to screen-dependence? If we are to avoid the new Dark Age of which Ferguson warns, we urgently need a 'screen-free schools' movement to complement the 'smartphone-free childhood' one. Jason Fletcher Headmaster, Heritage School Cambridge
Sir, I fundamentally disagree with Niall Ferguson's response to the growing influence of AI in education. If more and more students are using ChatGPT to write their essays at the cost of eroding their own individual thinking and reasoning skills, then creating tech-free 'cloisters' in universities is not the answer. There is no uninventing AI, so education, like every other walk of life, is simply going to have to learn to adapt to it. The answer is to remove the essay as the primary measure of academic achievement and replace it with other means that are AI-immune, such as the old-fashioned interview panel, or viva voce. Bob Maddams Louth, Lincs
Sir, Niall Ferguson rightly draws attention to the intellectual hollowing-out of student learning at universities due to generative AI. The urgency is even greater for learning at schools. The British government is significantly behind other nations in understanding what the best are doing internationally and developing a dynamic national strategy. In the face of this torpor, I set up the charity AI in Education two years ago with Alex Russell, chair of the Bourne Education Trust. We provide schools with guidance to ensure the interests of student welfare are put first.
We cannot stop AI. We can only shape it. At best, AI has much to offer schooling. Yet the British education establishment is asleep to the risks and continues to focus almost exclusively on developing cognitive skills on which AI will always outperform humans, rather than on human skills, human intelligence, human identity and human empathy, which employers want, and on which AI will never outperform us. Sir Anthony Seldon Founding director, Wellington College Education
Sir, I did many seven-hour stints in 'the cloisters' at Queen Mary College, London, in the 1970s. After each one the routine was: three hours of snooker and Southern Comfort in the union; one hour commute to Leytonstone; one hour to make and eat corned beef hash; a two-hour movie on VHS; a slow bath; and then bed (to process the cloister work). If I'd had AI to help I might have got a first, not a 2:1 (in astrophysics), but I doubt it. Stephen Hogg Sheffield
Sir, When Sir Keir Starmer receives President Macron tomorrow, they will reaffirm their welcome determination to support Ukraine. British-French cohesion to defend the rules-based order over Ukraine is essential and exemplary. We need that same unity of purpose over Israel and Palestine, to uphold international law. In Gaza and the West Bank those same rules are broken daily.
We have two requests. Macron and Starmer should press again for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza with all that that entails — and with consequences if devastation and starvation continue in Gaza. They should decide now to recognise the state of Palestine unconditionally, endorsing the Palestinian right to self-determination alongside Israel, and giving renewed impetus to the French-Saudi international conference on a just peace. Britain and France together will bring Commonwealth and European partners with them. It is vital to show the world, particularly President Trump, that there is an alternative based in law to Binyamin Netanyahu's declared policy: living by the sword. Sir Vincent Fean, former consul-general, JerusalemLord Hannay of Chiswick, former ambassador to the UNSir Jeremy Greenstock, former ambassador to the UNLord Green of Deddington, former ambassador to Saudi ArabiaFrances Guy, former ambassador to Lebanon Sir Tony Brenton, former ambassador to RussiaAnthony Cary, former high commissioner to CanadaSir Dominick Chilcott, former ambassador to TurkeySir William Patey, former ambassador to Afghanistan James Watt, former ambassador to EgyptSir Edward Clay, former high commissioner to KenyaPeter Jenkins, former ambassador to the UN (Vienna)Peter Collecott, former ambassador to BrazilJohn Buck, former ambassador to PortugalMichael Hone, former ambassador to IcelandPeter Millett, former ambassador to LibyaRobin Kealy, former ambassador to TunisiaSir Harold Walker, former ambassador to IraqAnthony Layden, former ambassador to LibyaRobin Lamb, former ambassador to BahrainRupert Joy, former EU ambassador to MoroccoRichard Lyne, former high commissioner to the Solomon IslandsRichard Northern, former ambassador to LibyaAdrian Sindall, former ambassador to SyriaSir Derek Plumbly, former ambassador to EgyptSir John Shepherd, former ambassador to Italy
Sir, In your article on the selection of the next Archbishop of Canterbury (news, Jul 5), Lord Evans of Weardale says he seeks somebody 'who can speak authoritatively and graciously with a Christian voice unto the affairs of the nation. And clearly somebody who can take the appropriate lead on safeguarding.' All well and good, and perhaps a bit of motherhood and apple pie. In my diocese we are told we must increase our parish share and get more worshippers in the pews — a laudable ambition. But my benefice of nine parishes spread over many miles of Somerset has one incumbent. What we need in an archbishop, regardless of gender or ethnicity, is someone who realises that to spread the Christian word we need to invest in vicars on the ground. No war was won without soldiers and no company succeeds without salesmen. By all means speak to the affairs of the nation, but better results will come from speaking to the people of the nation in the parishes. Mike Hodson Bishops' Council and Diocesan Synod member; Spaxton, Somerset
Sir, The government's ten-year NHS plan includes a 'seismic shift' in care, away from hospitals and towards a 'neighbourhood health service' (news and letters, Jul 5). The advantage of hospital-based clinics is that there is immediate access to full diagnostic facilities and near-immediate access to fellow specialists who can offer a second opinion. Enforcing a specialist diaspora into 'the community' results in professional isolation and, in terms of throughput, is inefficient. It disrupts the 'one-stop shop' approach to secondary care. Providing a proper multidisciplinary service requires far more staff when they are thinly spread over multiple sites, so is not cost-effective. I tried running outreach clinics for several years before concluding all of this, and abandoning them. These proposals demonstrate failure to learn from the mistakes of the past, and are doomed to repeat them. Dr Andrew Bamji Ret'd consultant rheumatologist; Rye, E Sussex
Sir, Your leading article (Jul 4) praises a proposed shift to prevention within the NHS's Fit for the Future strategy, but then, in the same paragraph, describes banning alcohol advertising as 'draconian'. The public accounts committee found, in 2023, that alcohol costs the NHS in England alone a likely underestimate of £25 billion per year, with alcohol linked to more than 100 illnesses, mental disorder, self-harm and suicide. It is a major cause of preventable death. We know that action by government (because the alcohol industry isn't going to do it) on price, availability, marketing and advertising would be an effective preventive measure. What is the justification for opposing it? Elizabeth Robinson Consultant in public health; Levenwick, Shetland
Sir, I would encourage John Orton to use the NHS app (letter, Jul 5). I'm well into my seventies but find it easy to use both on my phone and iPad. The government has a responsibility to improve the NHS but we, the users, have our responsibilities too. I also find my phone useful when waiting for a bus — I do the Times sudoku. Cate Rowntree London SE10
Sir, Fraser Nelson (comment, Jul 5) rightly highlights the predicament, created by successive governments for short-term expediency, Britain now finds itself in. Poorly organised debt interest is soaring. The complacency in the Treasury is breathtaking. While Rachel Reeves seems isolated in defence of her fiscal rules, the back benches have shown they do not care so long as the state's reach continues to grow and they can 'virtue signal' to their constituents. Their raw power is filling the vacuum at the top. Most people I know have concluded this government will be a one-term wonder.
Where will we find a statesman with clarity of purpose, vision and the honesty to tell us we cannot sustain a freeloading population for much longer? I see no evidence but if one were to emerge, of any party, he or she would have my vote. David R Smith Southport, Merseyside
Sir, The expertise of British security printers has long drawn central banks to these shores for the production of their paper money ('Story of banknotes is full of funny money', comment, Jul 5). The 50 rupee note issued in 1968 by the Central Bank of Seychelles was printed in London by Bradbury Wilkinson. It featured a seascape and portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth by Pietro Annigoni. Behind the Queen's head there are two coconut palms. At first sight it is a pleasant, innocuous scene. But turn the note upright and the fronds of the trees are clearly arranged to spell 'sex'. A printing anomaly perhaps — until the 10 rupee note, which featured a handsome turtle and was printed by the same company, was found to have the word 'scum' worked into the coral underneath the turtle. No one owned up to the prank and the notes were left in circulation until the islands gained their independence. Robin Laurance Oxford
Sir, Wimbledon is, for me, a highlight of the summer but this year the delight has been dimmed by the absence of line judges. I am deaf and struggle to hear the new electronically generated line calls. Without a judge's clear gestures, I find I am one step behind, having to wait for the score to change or the subtitles to catch up with the commentary. On top of this, the courts look weirdly empty, the ball girls and boys lonely and the chance of those little asides, amusing moments or even eruptions from tense players is gone. Some of the character of Wimbledon has been lost. As for the line judges themselves, how depressing must these Championships be. How hurtful to be chucked out for an electronic gimmick. Octavia Pollock Petersfield, W Sussex
Sir, To add to Diana Barrington Holt's 'irritations of tennis' (letter, Jul 5), may I suggest: the camera shot from behind the server that is so low it is impossible to see where the ball is going — and American commentators who talk so much they speak over the play. Lynne C Potter Hexham, Northumberland
Sir, You report that three village cricket clubs have been banned from using their grounds after a member of the public said he was hit by a stray ball in a car park (news, Jul 5). At my school in the 1960s there was a walled bull field near the cricket flats, usually with a bull in it. If you were to hit a ball into the field you were awarded 12 runs, but six whacks with a ferula and ruled 'out' — and you had to collect the ball yourself. I don't remember many 12s being awarded. Kevin Lawton Wadebridge, Cornwall
Sir, Sophia Bennett asks whether two letters from the same village in one day is a record (letter, Jul 5). I regret to disappoint her. On September 13, 1999, The Times published letters from myself and a close neighbour in the village of Longworth — so close that our houses share the same full postcode of seven characters. Professor Adam Ogilvie-Smith Longworth, Oxon
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