James Saunders's new book, Fighting for Country, a biography of Captain Reg Saunders, an Indigenous soldier in two wars, will no doubt reveal much of value about a man who against all odds beat a path for many First Nations people to follow.

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But one claim which Mr Saunders makes for his uncle is simply not true.

Contrary to popular belief, Reg Saunders was not Australia's "first Aboriginal commissioned officer". That distinction goes to the Tasmanian Lieutenant Alfred Hearps, who was commissioned in the 12th Battalion, AIF, in August 1916, and who died on the Somme the same month.

Boosting the incorrect claim of Reg Saunders at the expense of another First Nations man does no justice to Saunders's distinguished career in the army, business and in public service, and it certainly is distasteful to see another Indigenous man who died in the service of King and Empire overlooked.

Alfred Hearps's priority has been known for over a decade, since Andrea Gerrard's pioneering research on Tasmanian Indigenous soldiers: why the reticence to acknowledge the facts?

Peter Stanley, Dickson

In a short story published in 1942, the world's greatest science fiction author Isaac Asimov set out his famous "Three Laws of Robotics" which are a set of ethical rules or "laws" for the conduct of artificial intelligence. The Three Laws are:

First Law: A robot (artificial intelligence) may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Second Law: A robot (artificial intelligence) must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Third Law: A robot (artificial intelligence) must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These three laws subsequently came to be adopted by many science fiction writers in their stories involving robots (artificial intelligence).

Asimov later [in 1985] introduced an overarching law which he called the Zeroth Law: A robot (artificial intelligence) may not harm humanity, or allow humanity to come to harm through inaction.

While acknowledging that terms like "injury" and "harm" lack straightforward and precise definition, there is a clear case that these laws should be implemented and built into all artificial intelligence as the default state. Hopefully such a baseline state would provide a serious measure of comfort about the ongoing development of artificial intelligence.

Don Sephton, Greenway

Pardon my ignorance but who the blazes is Macklemore and why should I even care? (I vaguely remember one-note wonder Ed Sheeran).

I entirely agree with Dave Roberts (Letters, September 13), when he advocates that it is preferable by far........

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