A growing consensus pitted spiritual, medical, and technological experts together against the “existential threat to humanity” posed by artificial intelligence (AI) and the globalist, transhumanists ever-racing toward advancement.
Earlier this year, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk joined prominent figures in signing a letter issued by the Future of Life Institute calling for nothing less than a six-month pause on the continued development of AI systems. Now, as the rapidity of advancements becomes more readily apparent, medical experts and faith leaders are joining in seeking a halt before AI becomes a weapon against mankind and God.
A number of possibilities for unbridled AI was posited in a commentary published in the British Medical Association journal BMJ Global Health titled, “Threats by artificial intelligence to human health and human existence.”
Chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard are precursors to vastly more powerful systems and the five medical and global health policy experts suggested, “The ability of AI to rapidly clean, organise and analyse massive data sets consisting of personal data, including images collected by the increasingly ubiquitous presence of cameras” would make it easier for totalitarians to take and hold power.
They further reasoned, as so often depicted in dystopic works of science fiction that AI could expand the use of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) to accelerate mass murder. “For example, it is possible for a million tiny drones equipped with explosives, visual recognition capacity and autonomous navigational ability to be contained within a regular shipping container and programmed to kill en masse without human supervision.”
Recently, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates made an argument against halting AI development because of those very kinds of threats. As he put it to ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis, “If you just pause the good guys and you don’t pause everyone else you’re probably hurting yourself.”
‘We’re all scared a bad guy could grab it’: Bill Gates differs with Musk on pausing AI developmenthttps://t.co/fEfSV3LjMY
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) May 9, 2023
While that stood to reason militarily, it didn’t address concerns posed by the commentators over the potential for economic and psychological disasters.
“Projections of the speed and scale of job losses due to AI-driven automation range from tens to hundreds of millions over the coming decade,” they expressed in the case of widespread deployment of AI.
Furthermore, “When combined with the rapidly improving ability to distort or misrepresent reality with deep fakes, AI-driven information systems may further undermine democracy by causing a general breakdown in trust or by driving social division and conflict, with ensuing public health impacts,” they said, making note of China’s Social Credit System creeping into American society through ESG scoring.
On the spiritual side, Dan Schneider, Media Research Center, and Free Speech America vice president, spoke with Fox News Digital and decried AI as likely “going to be the single greatest weapon against faith, against truth, against religion.”
“The [political] left controls AI, and the left is going to do what the left wants to do,” he explained over the phone. “The left despises the whole idea of a higher being that sets standards of right and wrong…the left sees religion as the engine that has destroyed different societies and peoples throughout history.”
“They blame religion for that — when it is religion that is responsible for most of the good that has taken place in the world,” Schneider added.
Likewise, Pastor Jesse Bradley of Auburn, Washington expressed that, though it can be a positive tool, “At the same time, it has the potential for privacy violations and manipulation.”
“In the wrong hands, AI can take away freedoms and undermine community and human dignity,” he said, echoing concerns presented earlier.
Contrasting that, the pastor argued, “The grace of Jesus changes our hearts; a relationship with God fills our souls. If we seek God, he will give us wisdom in all situations.”
“AI needs to be used in ways that honor God and are benevolent,” Bradley suggested. “Our screen time is soaring, but what we really need is each other, along with unity and healing in our nation.”
“At its core, the Christian witness and gospel is not about information transfer or simply acquiring more knowledge, but rather a personal encounter with the living God being shared with other image bearers,” said Jason Thacker, chair of research in technology ethics and director of the research institute at The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, in an email to Fox News Digital.
“Humanity is fundamentally different than AI, as we are someone versus something,” he emphasized and noted, AI “cannot truly witness or even preach, as it isn’t able to experience true grace or the redemption of sin which is at the core of the gospel message.”
Many have acknowledged that, paused or not, AI’s advancement is a matter of inevitability and, to address that amidst such rampant concerns, Dr. James Spencer, president of the D.L. Moody Center, said, “In the end, even if human intelligence is surpassed by AI, that won’t make AI human. It won’t be human because the essence of what it means to be human is not a matter of capabilities, but of being and, in particular, being made in the image of God.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- Illegal immigrant from Russia celebrates NYC exit: ‘They give me ticket for free to Chicago!’ - April 17, 2024
- NPR’s Uri Berliner resigns – blasts CEO who sees 1st Amendment used to defend old posts as ‘a challenge’ - April 17, 2024
- ‘Pretty scary’: Local leaders respond to chaos of San Diego area beaches being rushed by illegal migrants - April 17, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.