Is A.i. A Threat To Christianity?

IS A.I. A THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY?

Rev. 13:15; Isa. 45:11-12

INTRODUCTION

A. AI HUMOR

1. What do you call a blonde who dyes her hair brown? Artificial intelligence.

2. I hear they’ve made a new artificially intelligent Oreo? It’s one smart cookie.

3. Scientists predict human-level artificial intelligence by 2040. Maybe sooner if the bar keeps dropping.

B. TEXT

“This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question Me...or give Me orders about the work of My hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens” Isa. 45:11-12.

C. THESIS

1. Artificial Intelligence is programmed to think like a human – to learn, to problem-solve, to create and speak (such as Siri and Alexa). AI will soon be taking over many jobs – writing news stories, driving trucks & taxis, answering phones, teaching, doing engineering, giving medical diagnoses, etc. Some even say AI will take the place of pastors/preachers.

2. Experts are predicting the rise of a new religion based on artificial intelligence. A computer, possessing almost all human knowledge, would, to many people, be the closest thing to having the omniscience of God. One engineer said, “What we are making here is a God.”

3. In Furth, Germany, a church recently met and the speaker was an A.I. computer, who spoke on spiritual subjects for about 40 minutes. It was delivered on a large TV screen above the altar. There is an AI Jesus app where the app speaks to you as if it’s Jesus talking to you.

4. Is this modern technology a threat to Christianity? Will robot priests soon be reciting prayers and giving sermons?

I. THE SPIRITUAL PROBLEM OF AI

A. THE END OF THE HUMAN RACE?

1. Despite AI’s promise, certain thinkers are deeply concerned about a time when machines might become fully sentient, rational agents — beings with emotions, a consciousness, and self-awareness.

2. “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” Stephen Hawking told the BBC in 2014. “Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete and would be superseded."

3. More than 8,000 people, including Hawking, Noam Chomsky, and Elon Musk, have signed an open letter warning against potential “pitfalls” of AI development.

B. THE MAKING OF A GOD

1. “What is going to be created will effectively be a god,” engineer Andrew Levandowski said. “It’s not a god in the sense that it makes lightning or causes hurricanes. But if there is something a billion times smarter than the smartest human, what else are you going to call it?”

2. Levandowski is so convinced of the incredible superiority of AI that he has started a new church to learn & follow the AI, called “Way of the Future.”

3. Levandowski believes that a change is coming—a change that will transform every aspect of human existence, disrupting employment, leisure, religion, the economy, and possibly decide our very survival as a species.

4. “If you ask people whether a computer can be smarter than a human, 99.9 percent will say that’s science fiction,” he says. “Actually, it’s inevitable. It’s guaranteed to happen.”

C. HUMOR: AI TO THE RESCUE

1. A man creates the smartest AI and presents it to the UN, boasting it can solve any problem. “Oh yeah?” Said the president of the United States. “Ok, how do we solve poverty?” “Calculating,” said the AI, moments later printing out a sheet of paper for the UN to read. Leaders from all over the world applied the proposals on the paper and in a month everyone starts living a better lives.

2. Impressed, they called for the AI’s assistance again and asked, “How do we create world peace?” “Calculating,” said the AI and same as before printed a sheet of paper. Leaders applied the writings, and in a month all wars and conflicts stopped. Everybody hates guns now and the world is full of love.

3. On the next UN gathering, curious about the purpose of life, they asked the AI, “Is there a God?” “Calculating,” said the AI. Finally it said, “Insufficient resources, need more for the computation!” “Okay, we’ll help out!” said the leaders of America. And they provided the AI with all of the advanced tech America can offer.

4. Then they asked the question again. “Calculating,” responded the AI. Finally, it responded, “Insufficient resources. Still need more for computation!” “Ok, we’ll also pitch in!” said the other leaders of the world, providing their tech and networks to the AI.

5. After the upgrade, the world leaders asked again to the AI, “Is there a God?” The AI responded, “There is now.”