Audience members explore ways to assist patients in making advance care plans, energy-saving artificial intelligence, and improved applications for Cyberport.Have strong opinions about these letters or other elements of the news? Express your thoughts by sending us your Letter to the Editor via email. letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not be longer than 400 words, and must contain your full name and address, along with a phone number for verification
The Directive Regarding Life-Sustaining Treatment, which relates to advance medical instructions (AMDs) and do-not-resuscitate (DNACPR) orders, waspassed in late 2024and is expected to become operational around mid-2026. However, public understanding of such advance decisions is still limited.
Advanced care planning (ACP) is essential to support these decisions. It is a empowering process that enables patients to prepare for future medical situations while respecting their values and choices.
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With the assistance of medical experts, patients can communicate their wishes regarding future medical and personal care to their relatives, particularly in situations where they are unable to make decisions due to impaired mental capacity.
ACP supports the four core principles of medical ethics in clinical practice.
The principle of autonomy is the foremost consideration. ACP offers a structured approach to enhance patients' independence. Once patients gather the required information from medical experts, they can choose the type of healthcare that reflects their values and preferences regarding quality of life during their final stage.
ACP also improves interaction between patients and their loved ones. This is increasingly significant as there are more treatment choices available, and not every option may be seen as ineffective in various situations.
Two additional principles are beneficence and non-maleficence. ACP enables individuals, provided they have the mental capacity, to reflect on their values and wishes, and to communicate with family members and medical professionals about the kind of care that would offer maximum benefit and least possible harm from both physical and psychological viewpoints.
Justice is the fourth fundamental principle. ACP ensures that patients' values and preferences are respected when they are unable to express their own needs. It eases the pressure on family members to make tough decisions and prevents unnecessary or unwanted medical treatments that might lead to financial and emotional stress.
The principle of ACP enables patients to decline medical treatment, yet it does not force healthcare providers to administer specific treatments. Medical professionals continue to have a responsibility towards their patients, ensuring they do not offer treatments that conflict with proper clinical standards or fail to benefit the patient's well-being.
Advance directives are not equivalent to euthanasia. The right to protect one's life must always come before the personal choice to end one's life, especially when medical treatments are still effective or palliative care can help manage pain and distress.
Dr. Albert Lee, retired professor of public health and primary care at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dr. Robert Yuen, former honorary consultant at the Bioethics Resource Centre of the Holy Spirit Seminary College of Theology and Philosophy; and Dr. Kar-wai Tong, from Precious Blood Hospital
Reward sustainable AI
I value the issues brought up inthe letter, "You are increasing carbon emissions with every question you ask AI" (July 23). Although the energy consumption of large language models is considerable, I still believe in viable solutions across all levels.
Individual users can contribute by making prompts and responses more concise, selecting smaller AI models tailored for specific tasks, and endorsing energy-saving model designs. Recent studies indicate that these actions can lower energy consumption by as much as 90 percent.
Organizations should promote the exchange of AI-created results and useful prompts within their teams to prevent repeated requests, thereby reducing their overall energy consumption.
At the community level, increased openness from AI companies regarding energy consumption is crucial. For instance, Google utilized DeepMind AI to reduce its data center cooling costs by 40 percent.
Officials and end-users ought to acknowledge this advancement and implement carbon taxation for AI offerings, ensuring that their actual ecological impacts are accounted for.
Simon Wang, Kowloon Tong
Transform surplus office space into student accommodations
Hong Kong is home to excellent universities, some of which are listed within the top 50 globally. With foreign students finding it less appealing to study in the United States, this presents a valuable chance to boost Hong Kong's reputation.
The University of Hong Kong has been considering the construction of aninnovation centre, which is a valuable concept.
Nevertheless, the suggested plan involves building on an unrealistic location, which would cause disturbance and incur high costs. A more cost-effective, comprehensive, and sustainable option for HKU would be to acquire the government-owned Cyberport, offering over twice the space of the proposed center.
Cyberport is an inadequately managed initiative, with numerous employees expressing dissatisfaction due to its restricted dining choices and substandard internet access.
Why not transfer the entire Cyberport to HKU? It offers ample campus-like space for the innovation center and other developments. Some facilities (like the Meridian hotel) could be repurposed into essential student accommodation. The current tenants of Cyberport could be relocated to more convenient areas such as Wong Chuk Hang or Kowloon Bay, occupying some of the vacant office spaces—thereby addressing the surplus issue. Alternatively, they could move to the Northern Metropolis or Science Park, where there is at least MTR access.
Typically, surplus office space throughout the city might be transformed into accommodation for students, thereby speeding up the recovery of the office market and addressing the severe lack of student housing.
Chris Gradel, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, PAG
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This piece was first published in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a top news outlet covering China and Asia.
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