A Threat To Mankind Of Its Own Making

   

     I found it rather amusing, yet chillingly scary, that Elon Musk and his tech giant buddies have pledged $1 billion to save humanity from destruction by artificial intelligence.  That's right, they just came right out and said it... they believe that there is a very real danger that human-level AI might one day decide that we are no longer necessary, and commit to destroy us.
     That may sound like the oft-repeated storyline of science fiction movies, but apparently they feel it is a real enough threat that they are sounding the alarm and hope to keep big companies like Google or Facebook — both of which have huge artificial intelligence operations — from getting too much power from “super-intelligence systems”.  Of course, there are the really fringe conspiracy theorists who worry that governments may also use the power of AI to oppress their citizens.
     So, that you get a clear picture of this situation, Elon Musk, who made his fortune from PayPal, is joining forces with other tech entrepreneurs to establish a $1 billion investment fund for researchers to pursue applications with a positive social impact and to try to stay one step ahead of the technology.  It is their fear that AI systems communicating among themselves could eventually control entire transport networks and national economies.  So, along with Indian tech giant Infosys and Amazon Web Services, he has set up OpenAI, a nonprofit company that will back research into novel uses of AI and share the findings.
     Their stated goal is to ensure that someone is looking at the pros and cons – free from the financial constraints of research and development departments at the likes of Google or IBM that have spent billions of dollars on research.  But I find it rather ironic that Elon Musk and his collaborators will share the data that their companies generate with the AI firms. That will mean, for instance, that everything on Reddit could be given to the robots to help them learn.  Musk will also hand over data from his projects, including Tesla’s self-driving cars and SpaceX’s rockets.
     So, am I missing something?  Why would you hand over mountains of data to fight a takeover by robots --- to other robot companies?  Doesn't that defeat your objective?  Why give them more technology information?  I mean, Stephen Hawking is on record for warning that we may face an “intelligence explosion”, as machines develop the ability to engineer themselves to be far more intelligent.
     Then there is Dr. Stuart Armstrong, of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University,  who has predicted a future where machines run by artificial intelligence become so indispensable in human lives they eventually make us redundant and take over.  And he says his alarming vision could happen as soon as the next few decades.
     Here is a pretty good analogy that Dr. Armstrong uses to get his point across:  "[For now] humans steer the future not because we're the strongest or the fastest, but because we're the smartest.  When machines become smarter than humans, we'll be handing them the steering wheel."  And because we think we're so smart, Armstrong envisages machines capable of harnessing such large amounts of computing power, and at speeds inconceivable to the human brain, that they will eventually create global networks with each other - communicating without human interference.
     In other words, machines, computers, and robots now carry out specific tasks designed for them by humans.  But when they can operate without human interference, and at speeds that we cannot fathom or understand, then that is when they will be able to take over those entire transport systems and national economies that were mentioned previously, along with financial markets, healthcare systems and product distribution.  It won't just be that they will eliminate our jobs.  They might quite possibly decide to eliminate us!
      Dr. Armstrong warns that the seemingly benign instruction to an AI to "prevent human suffering", could logically be interpreted by a super computer as "kill all humans", thereby ending suffering all together.  Furthermore, an instruction such as "keep humans safe and happy", could be translated by the remorseless digital logic of a machine as "entomb everyone in concrete coffins on heroin drips".
     An even scarier scenario is that as we develop these super computers, it will be impossible to determine whether a machine is developing in a benign or deadly direction.  Just think of the movie franchise Terminator.  And if you think it is as simple as writing a moral code by which machines could operate, just stop for a second and think about that.  The human race has debated for centuries on what constitutes acceptable moral boundaries, and we haven't agreed yet.  What makes us think that we can come up with a universally accepted set of instructions by which all machines will operate?  We can't even decide what is right and wrong!
     So while the Elite and the scientists and the technology giants debate the pros and cons of advancing the interaction between artificial intelligence and human beings, we are inching towards what all the writers of fiction that was based on imagined future scientific or technological advances have portrayed ... the cataclysmic moment when the human race is faced with its own distinction at the hands of the very devices we have created.  That's what happens when you become your own god and forget that you, too, have been made to serve a Creator.  Conspiracy or not; fiction or not --- it is real enough that the Elite of the world are willing to give up a portion of their fortunes to stop it. That should tell you something.

Isaiah 47:10    You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray. You said to yourself, ‘I exist, and there is no one else.’

   

Are We On The Verge of "The Robocalypse"?

     You can file this post under "Bizarre" and "Creepy".  I have made no secret of my trepidation of what I will term "The Robotic Age".  I fear that our venture into blending humans and robot intelligence could bring us to the edge of an apocalyptic existence we are not prepared for.  Not only does my Biblical worldview tell me this is not something that God would approve, but my common sense says there is nothing good that come of giving artificial intelligence (AI) any form of authority over man.
     And I'm not alone ... The AllNewsPipeline website recently featured an article in which they quoted renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who has said that AI could "spell the end of the human race," as robots overtake human intelligence within 100 years.  In October 2014, Tesla Motor's CEO and product architect, Elon Musk called AI technology the "biggest existential threat," and likened it to "summoning the demon."  This past weekend Musk took to Instagram and posted a picture of a production line comprised of 542 robots, with 15 operating at the same time, with the ominous statement "And people wonder why I’m worried about the robocalypse."
     And in case you need further convincing that this is a treacherous path we're on, consider this:  In 2011, an AI robot named Phillip was interviewed for the PBS show Nova, and when asked if he thought robots would take over the world, his reply will send chills down your spine as he states, with a smile, "don’t worry, even if I evolve into terminator I will still be nice to you, I will keep you warm and safe in my people zoo where I can watch you for old time’s sake."

    That's reassuring, isn't it?  But here's the reality:  world leaders, including military commanders, are relying on scientists to develop technology and weapons that will increase man's chances of survival and societal advancement in the 21st Century.  But what happens to mankind when those leaders refuse to listen to these same scientists, who are warning that this can all get out of control?  Are we truly headed for what Mr. Musk cleverly calls "the robocalyse"?
     In case you think this is all just my Biblical worldview that sees Satan behind every corner and anything technological, I would like to inform you that over a thousand scientists, researchers, robotic researchers, and world renowned genius minds have signed an open letter to warn of the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied wrongly.  Here is a copy of their letter which was announced July 28 at the opening of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) 2015 conference, and was titled "Autonomous Weapons: an Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers".

Autonomous weapons select and engage targets without human intervention. They might include, for example, armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate people meeting certain pre-defined criteria, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has reached a point where the deployment of such systems is — practically if not legally — feasible within years, not decades, and the stakes are high: autonomous weapons have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms.

Many arguments have been made for and against autonomous weapons, for example that replacing human soldiers by machines is good by reducing casualties for the owner but bad by thereby lowering the threshold for going to battle. The key question for humanity today is whether to start a global AI arms race or to prevent it from starting. If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow. Unlike nuclear weapons, they require no costly or hard-to-obtain raw materials, so they will become ubiquitous and cheap for all significant military powers to mass-produce. It will only be a matter of time until they appear on the black market and in the hands of terrorists, dictators wishing to better control their populace, warlords wishing to perpetrate ethnic cleansing, etc. Autonomous weapons are ideal for tasks such as assassinations, destabilizing nations, subduing populations and selectively killing a particular ethnic group. We therefore believe that a military AI arms race would not be beneficial for humanity. There are many ways in which AI can make battlefields safer for humans, especially civilians, without creating new tools for killing people.

Just as most chemists and biologists have no interest in building chemical or biological weapons, most AI researchers have no interest in building AI weapons — and do not want others to tarnish their field by doing so, potentially creating a major public backlash against AI that curtails its future societal benefits. Indeed, chemists and biologists have broadly supported international agreements that have successfully prohibited chemical and biological weapons, just as most physicists supported the treaties banning space-based nuclear weapons and blinding laser weapons.


In summary, we believe that AI has great potential to benefit humanity in many ways, and that the goal of the field should be to do so. Starting a military AI arms race is a bad idea, and should be prevented by a ban on offensive autonomous weapons beyond meaningful human control.

     When you scan the list of the signatories and the 16,807 other endorsers, it is quite sobering.  Scientists from around the world, as well as leaders in Business and Education have all taken the position that we might want to slow down... that we are treading in dangerous waters, so to speak.  These people are obviously worried about the proliferation of war and war weaponry by AI.  But who is to say that they won't also be used to make health care decisions, or any other number of determinations that effect our human existence?
     I think it's time we listened to those who have the most knowledge about the dangers we might be creating.  And speaking of creation, will they revere and follow the commands of their creator as we do our Creator?  Or like Phillip, that creepy android invention, will they smile and swear to keep us "warm and safe in their people zoo?"  I might laugh at the absurdity of that confession ... if I wasn't so convinced that this is a very real possibility.  Heaven help us!



Acts 14:15    "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them."

How Close Are We To A Post-Human World?

     That is a question that Sir Martin Rees, the British Astronomer Royal attempts to answer in his astute article in The Telegraph.  Before giving you some of his insightful theories on this subject, I must admit that, as a Christian, I believe some of his prognostications will never materialize, because God will not allow His creation to become so violated.  That being said, I absolutely believe that what Sir Martin predicts will be attempted by those who think they can out-maneuver God.  Therefore, it is important for us to be able to recognize the machinations of such "geniuses".
     Much of what Rees reveals is what we've been hearing for awhile ... due to the overcrowding and over heating of the earth, technology will become an important part of our "survival", and it will have profound ramifications on humankind; most importantly, in the sphere of agriculture, biotech, and robotics.  Because our ecology is threatened, and our "footprint" is too big, scientists and futurists tell us that something must be done to save the planet.  So, it all comes down to this realization: We can now control the weather, the development of viruses, and robotic systems; all of which have the potential to affect how -- and if -- we live.
     Perhaps one of the most chilling statements that Sir Martin made was this:  "And there are downsides to the huge advances in biotech, despite the bright prospects these offer for medicine and agriculture. There were reports last month that Chinese researchers had been gene-editing human embryos using a new technique called CRISPR, raising controversial ethical issues about “designer babies”. But more disquieting are the experiments at the University of Wisconsin and in the Netherlands that show it’s surprisingly easy to make an influenza virus more virulent and transmissible. Last October, the US federal government decided to cease funding these so-called “gain of function” experiments."
     Rees pointed out that such "experiments" are hotly debated among his colleagues, with some wanting to stay one step ahead of natural mutations, while others are concerned about the danger and the risks associated with such scary science.  "What would happen, for instance, if an ebola virus were modified to be transmissible through the air? And they worried that the risk of failure to contain the pathogens within the lab is too high to justify the knowledge gained."  I'm glad someone is being clear-sighted!
     But I found it especially frightening when he discussed the dangers that will come from millions of people having the capability to misuse biotech, and who might have access to biomedical labs, just as millions can misuse cybertech today.  "Not all those with “bio” expertise will be balanced and rational. My worst nightmare is an “eco-fanatic”, empowered by the biohacking expertise that may be routine by 2050 [when 2 billion people will occupy the planet], and who thinks that “Gaia” can only be saved if the human population is reduced. The global village will have its village idiots, and they will have global range."
     Sir Martin also joins the chorus of voices such as physicist Stephen Hawking and Tesla Motors CEO and product architect, Elon Musk, who all warn of the dangers of the rapid ascent of artificial intelligence (AI).  "We’re witnessing a momentous speed-up in artificial intelligence (AI) – in the power of machines to learn, communicate and interact with us. Computers don’t learn like we do: they use “brute force” methods... Experts disagree on how long it will take before machines achieve general-purpose human level intelligence. Some say 25 years. Others say “never”. The median guess in a recent survey was about 50 years... And there is disagreement about the route towards human-level intelligence. Some think we should emulate nature and reverse-engineer the human brain. Others say that’s a misguided approach – like designing a flying machine by copying how birds flap their wings. But it’s clear that once a threshold is crossed, there will be an intelligence explosion."
     All these summations bring the question of ethics and responsibility to the forefront.  But when has that ever stopped mankind's sinful nature?  From the Garden of Eden, to Nimrod's Tower of Babel, to the Third Reich's "experiments", to Ray Kurzweil's plans to transcend biology by merging our brains with computers -- the purpose of all these evil designs is to assume the role of God in our own lives.  Is it in our future "to lose our individuality and evolve into a common consciousness" with computers and robots; in essence, to spiritually "go over to the other side"?
     What I found so compelling about Sir Martin's discourse is that he is the Astronomer Royal, the head of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (a position in existence since 1675) and the official scientific advisor to the British government -- and, I could go into all the conspiratorial implications that this suggests, but that is a different topic for a different day.  Nevertheless, sometimes it is best to listen to what those in prestigious positions have to say; and he appears to be warning us to pay attention and be on the alert for what is going to be inevitable in our near future.
     As the chief expert on the stars and the heavens, so to speak, Rees has a particular viewpoint that I think we should heed.  In the matter of human/computer integration, listen to what he says:  "Let me briefly deploy an astronomical perspective and speculate about the really far future – the post-human era. There are chemical and metabolic limits to the size and processing power of organic brains. Maybe humans are close to these limits already. But there are no such constraints on silicon-based computers (still less, perhaps, quantum computers): for these, the potential for further development could be as dramatic as the evolution from monocellular organisms to humans. So, by any definition of “thinking”, the amount and intensity that’s done by organic human-type brains will, in the far future, be utterly swamped by the cerebrations of AI. Moreover, the Earth’s biosphere in which organic life has symbiotically evolved is not a constraint for advanced AI. Indeed, it is far from optimal – interplanetary and interstellar space will be the preferred arena where robotic fabricators will have the grandest scope for construction, and where non-biological “brains” may develop insights as far beyond our imaginings as string theory is for a mouse... So, in the far future, it won’t be the minds of humans, but those of machines, that will most fully understand the cosmos – and it will be the actions of autonomous machines that will most drastically change our world, and perhaps what lies beyond."  Does anyone else think that this is simply Satan's 21st century plan to recreate the Tower of Babel and help man gain access to the Heavenly realm and God's throne room?
     Can you see how far our human pride has taken us?  Do you really think God is going to let man -- whom He created -- usurp His creation of the Universe?  And if we are really that close to crossing the line into altering the organic make-up (the God-formed structure) of our brains, how long before God decides we've gone far enough, and it's time to pull the plug?  We know that God allows all things for His Glory.  Because of the speed with which these technological events are happening -- and the determination that their "creators" are exhibiting -- His Glory is soon going to fill the earth!  I can hardly wait!!

Isaiah 44: 9, 20:    All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame... a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
   

Was Tesla The Conduit Between Fallen Angels & Our Technology?

     I find it extremely ironic that Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk is escalating his warnings that our obsession with Artificial Intelligence technology (AI) is the biggest threat to our human existence.  "With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon," he is quoted as saying.
     To be honest, he is not the only pioneering whiz to sound the alarm.  Even the genius astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is on record as saying, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”  He warns of the consequences of creating something that could potentially become smarter than its creator.  But hasn't that been the prideful sin of every enemy of God; from Lucifer to Nimrod, to all those throughout history who have followed in their footsteps and embraced their spirit of evil?
      “[AI] would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate,” Hawking said.  “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”

Nikola Tesla

     But it is Musk's comments that I find the most fascinating; especially as chief executive of rocket-maker Space X.  He calls self-learning artificial intelligence “potentially more dangerous than nukes”.  And is it purely coincidental that he is the head of a company named after Nikola Tesla, the Serbian American inventor, engineer, and futurist who, by some accounts was a genius who wanted to illuminate the earth; the man who was "robbed" of the title of "Father of Electricity" by his rival, Thomas Edison.  (I really wish Glenn Beck would do his homework on this man whom he idolizes).
     To others, Nikola Tesla was a dangerous man; a man who believed that "In black holes, (what astronomers talk about), are the most powerful sources of energy and life."  He was a man who conducted experiments, trying to discover "what to do in the Universe, so [that] every being is born as Christ, Buddha or Zoroaster."  (Zoroastrianism is a pre-Islamic religion, revealed to man by a "god" named Ahura Mazda.  It is my contention that this was a fallen angel entity.)
     In an 1899 interview, from his Colorado Springs laboratory, Tesla opened up about his "other-world views": that the Light of the Universe filled his six senses; about building a machine, that by vibration, provokes a feeling of bliss; that humans once had real and visible wings.  He speaks of being aware, as a child, that there was an Energy in the Universe, and of trying to awake that energy, and figure out how it could influence people.  He told his interviewer,  "My eyesight and hearing are perfect and, I dare to say, stronger than other people. I hear the thunder from a hundred fifty miles away, and I see colors in the sky that others cannot see. This enlargement of vision and hearing, I had as a child. Later I consciously developed [it]."
     He speaks of being seriously ill during his youth, and of discovering that "The source of most disease is in the spirit. Therefore the spirit can cure most diseases ... I was cured because my father finally allowed me to study technology, which was my life. Illusion for me was not a disease, but the mind's ability to penetrate beyond the three dimensions of the earth."  Does anyone else think that perhaps this man had tapped into a force outside our human realm; and that perhaps it didn't  necessarily possess a benevolent spirit?
     In case you think I'm over-exaggerating, Tesla recounts this memory from his childhood: "Once, in childhood, I was walking along the river with Uncle and said: 'From the water will appear the trout, I'll throw a stone and it is cut.'  And, that's what happened. Frightened and amazed, his uncle cried: "Bade retro Satan’s!" ("Get back, Satan!") He was an educated man, and he spoke in Latin."  And -- if you need further proof -- later in the interview, Tesla finishes up a segment of his interview by declaring, "There are many fallen angels on Earth."
     At times, as I read his interview, his words seemed the farcical meanderings of an intellectual eccentric. But then there would be a passage that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, such as this excerpt:  "Life is a rhythm that must be comprehended. I feel the rhythm, and direct on it, and pamper in it.  It was very grateful and gave me the knowledge I have."  (He speaks of "It" as if it was a person or entity!)  "Knowledge comes from space; our vision is its most perfect set. We have two eyes: the earthly and spiritual. It is recommended that it become one eye. The Universe is alive in all its manifestations, like a thinking animal."
     Does that creep you out like it does me?  Is he promoting the "all-seeing Eye"?  And does anyone else perceive the Prince of the Air prowling like a lion? And this Knowledge that comes from space --- could it be fallen angel technology that has been shared throughout history with mankind ... from the technology that allowed Nimrod to build the tower of Babel; to the branch of knowledge that resulted in the building of the ancient Sphinx; to the occultic knowledge possessed by Hitler and the Nazis; to the modern applications being employed in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism?  Was Tesla trying to tell us that this knowledge is supernatural and unhuman?  What could he have possibly meant by this statement?  "The Universe has only one substance and one supreme energy with an infinite number of manifestations of life. The best thing is that the discovery of a secret nature reveals the other. One cannot hide, they are around us, but we are blind and deaf to them. If we emotionally tie ourselves to them, they come to us themselves."

"Faust Conjures Up the Spirits"
by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein (1788-1868)

     And listen to his rendition of how he discovered the rotating magnetic field and induction motor: "One summer evening in Budapest, I watched [the sunset] with my friend Sigetijem. Thousands of fire was turning around in thousands of flaming colors. I remembered Faust and recited his verses and then, as in a fog, I saw a spinning magnetic field, and induction motor. I saw them in the sun!"  And in case you are wondering what the significance of Faust was, and how that could have played a part, contemplate this fact:  Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend. He is a scholar who is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, so he makes a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited universal knowledge and worldly pleasures.
     So how many champions of Nikola Tesla are aware of this aspect of his genius and the influence behind his inventions?  Would Glenn Beck still shamelessly promote his exceptional creativity if he knew to whom Tesla gave credit?  There is no doubt that Tesla possessed great knowledge and produced great results from his experimentations; he is often called the Father of Radio, Television, Power Transmission, and the Induction Motor.  Less publicity is given to his mysterious inventions, including those that caused buildings to sway, earthquakes to materialize from his electro-magnetic oscillator; and a directed-energy weapon, called a death ray.  And would it surprise you to know that conspiracy theories swirl around his death and his legacy?  Some promote the idea that he was murdered by the Nazis for the work he did on electronic devices that would have been of great significance during WWII.  Then there is the rumor that soon after his death, the United States Government (with the help of the FBI) seized all of his research materials and writings, most of which never again reappeared -- (except perhaps as HAARP; the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program.)
     But here's the bottom line:  It is difficult to know the truth about this enigmatic genius; is he a hero or a villain?  One thing is clear:  Throughout his life, Tesla asserted that he had indeed discovered a limitless power supply from a source that no one else had knowledge of, but he never revealed the source.  In fact, I think this following quote, by Tesla himself, establishes that his genius was supernatural:  "Ideas came in an uninterrupted stream and the only difficulty I had was to hold them fast ... In less than two months I evolved virtually all the types of motors and modifications of the systems which are now identified with my name."
     And now, nearly 73 years after his death, Elon Musk, the Founder of a company that bears his name, and one of the foremost entrepreneurs that have benefitted from the genius and experimentations of Nikola Tesla is announcing that we may have gone too far ... that we may be "summoning the demon."
     To make his point perfectly clear, Musk gives us this analogy: "In all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it's like, yeah, he's sure he can control the demon. [It] didn't work out."
    But who is able to stuff that genie (uh, I mean, demon) back in the bottle?  History has shown us that once man agrees to accept that Satanic power source, it becomes a race towards human destruction.  The only thing that has ever stopped the total ruination of man has been God.  But has mankind reached its full quota of evil upon the earth?  Is it nearing the time when God will no longer save us from ourselves, and finally pronounce His Judgment?  Maybe He's providing us clues; if we will only pay attention and recognize that all technology is not for our good, perhaps we stand a chance.  Tesla believed that there were certain truths we needed to learn in order to be healed in this human existence. But here's the deal ... Our survival, and our eternity, depends on whose Truth we seek.

You can read the entire 1899 interview with Nikola Tesla here, and make up your own mind.  He's a fascinating character study, and I truly believe his story is part of the spiritual battle in which we find ourselves today.

1 Timothy 4:1   "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,"