Recently I watched a video of a robot named “Ammika” that highlighted just how far “A.I.” has taken us. It was amazing to see how well Ammika interacted with the gentleman who was interviewing “her”, as she responded to questions fluidly, while displaying facial expressions and vocal intonations that gave her a human-like quality.
Also noteworthy was how she was able to “think” more abstractly, as she fielded questions like if she could harm someone, what scares her, if robots should have rights, and if she was alive.
As I was watching, I also took note of my own thoughts and emotions, as they were quite diverse and comprised of a mix of wonder, awe, amusement, appreciation (for how far we have advanced with A.I.), as well as feeling unnerved.
The “unnerved” part is because, as sophisticated as Ammika was (with an I.Q. roughly equivalent to 155 -Genius level), one of her developers shared that during the span of the next decade, A.I. could surpass human intelligence by leaps and bounds. And this made me concerned about the increased role A.I. would have, and the decreased role people would have. For we are already seeing many jobs that were previously performed by humans being handed over to Artificial Intelligence.
Honestly, I’m still processing my reactions to the video, but I have this foreboding sense of where A.I. is taking us. And while I will refrain from sensationalizing this writing by suggesting that the movie “Terminator” might be prophetic, I am left to contemplate if humanity fully understands what we are buying into with the creation of machines that will be able to easily outthink us.
So, what do all these musings have to do with God?
Well, I’m not sure yet. But I am starting to wonder if A.I. is quickly becoming a modern-day example of the “Tower of Babel” (Genesis 11). For that tower was built in rebellion to God, as mankind pridefully looked to exalt themselves above their Creator. And to me, A.I. is feeling more and more like mankind’s effort to exalt themselves above God. As if we are somehow striving to show that we’re capable of building “beings” that are superior to people.
I am also concerned about how people will embrace the “Ammikas” of the future. Will we lobby for robots to have “rights”? Will we find greater “companionship” in robots than people (just take note of how we are spending more time “relating” to our smart-phones than people)? Will we turn more and more to A.I. than to the great “I Am” to solve our problems? Or have we passed some of these points already?
Like anything else that concerns me, I will not worry about such things, but commit them to God. Nothing surprises Him. So, He knew long before we did that A.I. was coming, and He will use it to serve His purposes. But let’s be praying about “A.I.”, that God would help us to view it properly, and use it wisely. For as “intelligent” as A.I. will become, it will never possess true reason or understanding. For God has given these only to mankind. Nor will A.I. ever seek the wisdom of God. That is our job. And He alone can guide us in the use of our intelligence.
In His Service,
Pastor Rob
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11: 5-6)