I know the title of today's blog reads like apocalyptic science fiction, and even seems a bit over-dramatic. But all the warning signs are there, and when you have the creators of some of the most advanced Artificial Intelligence systems openly admitting that this technology could pose "a profound risk to society and humanity".... well, it's time to pay attention.
First, let me say that I am not an expert on technology nor AI, and to be honest, I am not a fan of the increasing role it all plays in our lives. I've long thought that the "powers that be" have hinted at the reality of our future through movies like "The Terminator" and "War Games". And now the top industry leaders in AI have issued an open letter in which they are seeking "to reduce the risk AI poses to push humanity to extinction", comparing AI's influence to global pandemics and nuclear war.
Furthermore, these leaders have expressed their concerns that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is not far away. This is the concept that AI can learn to accomplish any intellectual task that any human or animal can do -- and do it faster. Additionally, they define AGI as an autonomous system that surpasses human capabilities. [For now, at least, they are applying that characteristic to economically valuable tasks]. But did you catch that AGI would become autonomous? That means it will be able to act independently of its human handlers, and/or have the freedom to do so. And if that's not enough to make you concerned, consider that Geoffrey Hinton, a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist, also known as the "Godfather of AI", recently announced his departure from Google [where he worked on neural networks - used for solving AI problems] because he noted that "I'm just a scientist who suddenly realized these things are getting smarter than us".
Soooo, how does this all connect to a post-Christian world? Follow me as I try to show you what is a possible scenario. To begin, we need to go back to 1961 and the Presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower. We are all familiar with Ike's warning about the military/industrial complex, which essentially warned the American populace that [the complex] would need to fund itself by endless wars. That prediction has been proven true. But he also gave a lesser known warning, in which he said, "we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy itself could become the captive of a scientific-technological elite". He was an eye witness to government taking more and more control of science funding, and he believed that as politicians funded more of it, academia was going to self-select those who believed in big government. And that leads to corporations controlling academic science by controlling politicians. We have certainly seen this theory born out in the last few years of the pandemic crisis.
But let's take it a step further and consider the possibility that government-controlled science could lead to that scientific-technological elite that strives to rule through social authoritarianism. How could this happen? Well, we are seeing signs of that concept when we examine some of the functions of society. Consider how we've seen changes in the way our society is preserving order [or not]; in how we are managing education; handling the economy; and the importance of how our society is communicating to ensure the continuity of the culture for future generations. Communication is a basic and fundamental necessity for an individual and society/culture to survive.
Changing the intention of language and its meanings can affect how a society continues to exist. The explosion of the internet and computer language/coding has changed how we communicate in the 21st Century. Face-to-face conversation is slowly disappearing, as we let computers do our talking for us. And without that interpersonal connection, there is no relationship, and humans were created for relationship. What we end up with is "gas-lighting tactics" in which the populace is deliberately and systematically fed false information to mislead them and cause them to question their perception of what's real and what's not. Computers are increasingly used to manipulate us with false and created language to direct and manipulate society towards a desired result, and potentially an artificial reality.
All this is possible through the ridiculously fast rate at which computers can now converse with the human population. Enter the latest invention, the ChatBot, which in its latest version is being called "a reasonable [yet still incomplete] version of an AGI System" -- the autonomous system that can act independently of humans. That's why the Godfather of AI is quoted as saying, "Once AI can improve itself, which may not be more than a few years away, and could in fact already be here now, we have no way of knowing what the AI will do or how we can control it .... it will have the capability to act in the virtual world through its electronic connections, and in the physical world through robot bodies".
Can you see that none of this is the design of our Creator? Artificial Intelligence can certainly lead to an Artificial Reality in which the human race is convinced that a) God is not real, therefore b) God does not exist. Furthermore, we will have no need of moral guidelines or the necessity of forgiveness because humans could potentially no longer be made [fully] in the image of God. As we see AI technology rapidly emerging in the field of biomedical research and health care, we face a very real danger of losing our spiritual connection with our Father in Heaven.
What I believe we are seeing is the evolution of the Eternal War between God and Satan for control of the human race. For years medical scientists have studied the human genome to better understand how our DNA is coded. In 2021 Science Daily reported that a scientific team "found that a neural network system trained on high-resolution maps of protein-DNA interactions could uncover subtle DNA sequence patterns throughout the genome and provide a deeper understanding of how these sequences are organized to regulate genes". That was in 2021. And now the leaders in the AI industry are warning that these computers are beginning to have the capability to act independently in gathering this artificial general information. What's to keep them from decoding human DNA and changing the code so that we no longer have the DNA God gave us?
That's why God destroyed the human race with the Flood. Man's DNA became corrupted with Fallen Angel DNA, and God would not tolerate it. He hasn't changed, and He won't tolerate it now! Satan has never given up on destroying us because of his envy and resentment of mankind, who are favored by the Creator. He lost his position in Heaven when he thought he could usurp the throne in the heavenly Kingdom of God. He has sought ways to defeat us through Sin and Death. But God sent His Son to redeem us, and now we have the promise of Eternal Life through our faith in Jesus as our Savior.
But that isn't the end of God's grace towards us. Jesus also came to earth with the purpose of giving us His power and authority so we could be restored to our original purpose, to have dominion over the earth and rule it like God rules Heaven. Satan recognizes that through that divine power and authority, extended to us, we have the ability to take back territory from his earthly kingdom of darkness. But if Satan can use AI to change us at the very core of our earthly body -- our DNA -- then he has successfully corrupted God's creation, and we will see the emergence of AI 'gods". That's why computer generated reality is artificial, false, and designed to keep us separated from our true identity... the beloved children of God.
It is time that we recognize the difference between the constructive use of technology and its potential for the destruction of the human race. This Eternal War with Satan pits his envy and resentment against our gratitude and responsibility as the redeemed children of God. So far, the devil has been able to deceive mankind in going down this technological road in order to usurp our power and authority, and to rid himself of his spiritual and mortal enemy. We need to listen to the experts who are warning us to pull the plug on the advancement of AI. We need to return to the key elements of our human existence and our God-given reality. We've gone too far already.
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.
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