I am representing the Estonian Writers Union and writers, while I would like to represent much more. That is why I will not start by talking about literature, the life and income of writers etc. Instead, I will go somewhere else entirely.

The Swedish Academy recently bestowed those famous awards known after their founder as the Nobel Prize. They are handed to creative persons, some politicians, but mostly to scientists. This year, the prize in physics went to Geoffrey Hinton, famous for building an artificial intelligence model capable of deep learning by mimicking the neural network of the human brain. A system that can learn from experience like humans, but as 10,000 humans as opposed to just one.

Many of you probably know this, but what is less known is that Geoffrey Hinton has regretted his invention and done so years ago. He left Google and considers the current state of AI to be a threat. He would prefer not to have done any of it.

To mark this fact, the Philosophie Magazine published a short list of scientists and creative persons who have also regretted their achievements. They include American biologist Arthur Galston who in 1945 invented a herbicide, which the U.S. later used in the Vietnam War. No less than 83 million liters of it was poured into Vietnamese forests, which caused a massive ecological disaster the aftermath of which can be felt to this day. Galston would have preferred not to invent it in the first place or at least to have kept it a secret.

Or take John Sylvan, founder of Keurig and the K-Cup who, upon realizing that the pods really cannot be recycled, sold his stake in the company and has much regretted his actions, wishing the invention never became public.

Albert Einstein is another world-famous example. President Roosevelt launched the Manhattan Program during World War Two, which led to the development of a weapon, which President Truman used for the purposes of mass murder in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Einstein was shocked to see what he had helped bring about. He really regretted, not his theory of relativity, not the other things he had done, but that he had proposed the possibility of such an invention.

Indeed, scientists and creative persons often regret their achievements if they turn out to be harmful. Artists, writers, musicians and actors often also remember things deserving of regret, but not just things they themselves have done, but also the deeds of others.

Major social blunders are recalled from time to time. Many don't like it, and while scientists are likely to admit things went wrong, I would rhetorically ask whether anyone knows a politician who has regretted unleashing war or genocide? I cannot think of a single one.

Such remorse is not characteristic of politicians, irrespective of whether in a democratic or totalitarian system – politicians do not usually regret their actions, making excuses or resorting to self-justification if they have no other choice. There is no sign of remorse and one does not quit politics on account of one's actions without considerable social pressure.

I do not want to urge politicians to regret something for the first time in history, nor do I believe it would happen. However, I propose another possibility. Namely, that it is possible to do something or rather not do something to make regret unnecessary in the first place. This brilliant opportunity has just presented itself.

Think twice! Perhaps we can not do something foolish this time and have nothing to regret later. Everybody wins.

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