Do we give advice?

Yes. But it's couched (a) as our experience and (b) as suggestions. Both of which have the force of advice, albeit without the presumption of universal authority, without pressure, and without reprimand or other punitive sanction if the advice is not followed. If you want to do what we did (our experience, as set out in the suggested programme), you're welcome to copy us. The choice is yours. Obviously we'd be thrilled for you to join us. But if you don't, that's OK too.

What is maybe best avoided is advising specific courses of action in specific situations in the individual's outside life or even specific courses of action when it involves the material world or other people. The responsibility for decisions lies with the decider, and this must be made clear, to protect everyone involved.

Also: it's best not to speculate on topics I know nothing about.

But I've been helped by a huge amount of advice in AA from people who had relevant experience and whose lives demonstrated the effectiveness of that advice. Without it, I wouldn't be here.

Here's some advice. Don't drink. Go to meetings. Get a sponsor. Work the Steps. Turns out pretty much everyone in AA gives advice!