Craig Ashby & Ron Temby /Complexiosity - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/ 25th August 2024

Technological advances can have huge impacts. What do think are some of the most impactful technologies to have been invented - the wheel, printing press, electricity, railways?

Some technologies are hugely disruptive. The industrial revolution threw 250,000 hand weavers out of work.

The IT revolution helped enable industrial robotics taking away the boring and dangerous jobs.

Artificial Intelligence is another revolution which is also going to be disruptive.

Narrow AI focuses on one particular task but the AI that is starting to have a huge disruptive impact is Generative AI

which hoovers up all the data it can find on a specified subject, analyses it and produces a summary. This can be in the form of a letter, an article for publication or even an essay or assignment!

Generative AI can have many positive effects, such as scanning X-rays for problems that humans sometimes miss.

It can also have negative effects such as enabling students to cheat and creating fake news.

Because of the speed at which it operates it is predicted to cause mass redundancies for white collar workers in the near future.

Is AI a threat? Sci-fi movies indicate that it could be. But is this real? Killer robots have been around since 2006 so maybe.

However, technology is neutral. We should not fear it. What we should be concerned about is how the people who are using AI will use it on others.

Did Jesus say anything about AI? No, but He did talk about how we should treat people as in the golden rule.

Jesus also warned us in Matthew 24 of the false prophets, deception and conflict to come so we wouldn't be alarmed when we see such predictions coming true.

Is there a Biblical passage which illustrates how we can cope with disruptive technological change?

Yes. Daniel chapter 1 describes the time when Daniel and his three friends had to learn the Babylonian curriculum and God helped them to do so. The Babylonian civilization was advanced, including such things as trigonometry and astronomy. Not only did they embrace the new learning but they didn't worry. They trusted God. Compare this with Psalm 137 where the exiles were bitter and angry, looking backwards to what they had lost rather than looking forward to what they might achieve with God's help.

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

So, what should our attitude to AI be?

We should adapt to it but be discerning. We should not worry but trust God. We should use AI for good, such as translating the Bible into more languages. And, we should help those who are dislocated by it.

As Dr. Eliezer Gonzales says:

"Joy comes from God. Peace comes from God.

These things can flow from a person who is connected to God. They cannot come from a machine.

They cannot heal a broken soul. Only God can do that."