About AI

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

What is the Christian stance on AI?

Are you worried that AI will strip away human nature?

Will AI enslave humans?

Is AI dangerous to human existence?

Do you think AI robot will dominate the world?

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I use AI a bit, mainly for helping me write devotionals.

AI has the capability of automating tasks once performed by humans; however, it does not have the capacity to replace or alter human nature fundamentally. Humans are complex beings with emotions, creativity, empathy, and morality, which cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence systems at this time. Rather than stripping away human nature, AI can augment human abilities and help us solve complex problems more efficiently.

There's no evidence suggesting that AI will enslave humans. AI is simply a tool created by people, and like any other technology, it can be used for good or bad purposes depending on how it is developed and deployed. The responsibility lies in ensuring that we develop AI responsibly, keeping ethics and safety as top priorities.

AI itself is not inherently dangerous to human existence. However, misuse or irresponsible development of AI could potentially lead to negative consequences. It's crucial for policymakers, technologists, and society as a whole to work together to establish guidelines and regulations around AI development to minimize such risks.

Lastly, regarding your fourth question: Robots powered by artificial intelligence may perform various jobs traditionally done by humans, but they do not possess intentions or desires to dominate the world. Ultimately, robots are tools controlled by humans, and their impact on the world depends on how they are used and governed.


This is Mistral 7B analyzing Titus 3:1-11. I do double check the info that the locally installed, private AI on my laptop says. I use AI, which is a double-edged sword (can be a blessing), which can analyze Bible verses. About 3/4 of one Bible analysis is done by the AI, while the life anecdotes are done by myself. Honestly, without AI, it would have been much more difficult to dive into the Bible. Now, in 2024, the AI has helped me connect the Bible to real-world things in life. Mistral 7B is run entirely offline and privately, and is free and partially open source. So, no need for a large corporation to steal my data.

Titus 3:1-11 devotional draft from May 2024

Try this.

The podcast above interviews an author on this stuff from a Christian point of view.
I am yet to read the book he wrote - but have it on my shelf.

Also - have you seen "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix? (Awesome doco.)
The same guys did "The AI Dilemma" on youtube.

This isn't particularly Christian in concerns - but lays out a good framework of what we're even talking about for lay people like myself. The stuff on it reading your mind is incredible - and apparently getting even MORE accurate now. (This is a year old.)
But I think you had to be in an MRI for the mind-reading stuff - so basically you would have to be compliant. If you watch it, please tell me if I'm wrong and it was accessing brainwaves some other way. Enjoy!

I heard one podcast that said various secular cults might start worshipping AI itself.

I don't think this should be encouraged. The Christian life isn't just learning stuff and then responding to that learning. We have SO many great resources - so why go to church? Why listen to your pastor - especially if they are not as cool and entertaining as someone you've found online?
The pastor knows something your books and podcasts do not know. They know you. Or at least they know your congregation - and what the local news and events and culture and temptations might be. This is why I'm also against mega-churches - as a pastor should be able to encourage, teach, rebuke, and even discipline as required.

But I do love podcasts - especially the first 2 here which defend the faith:
"Undeceptions" with John Dickson - Welcome to Undeceptions
"Reasonable Faith" with William Lane Craig - Our Podcast | Reasonable Faith

And on Christian living and ethics? Try this one on AI - Podcast episode 116: Embrace AI and lose your soul? with Akos Balogh - Centre for Christian Living and don't forget this one I already recommended. Have a listen then get back to me - I'm keen to hear what you think. What morality to teach to artificial intelligence? - with Stephen Driscoll — The Pastor's Heart

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Will AI replace pastors and priests to preach to us and teach us Bible?

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I hope not. AI should be used as a personal tool, and not for a congregation. Even then, we must use discernment. In other words, AI can be a slippery slope to over reliance on technology, and AI does not have a spirit, so it can not have faith.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

What is the Christian stance on AI?

Are you worried that AI will strip away human nature?

Will AI enslave humans?

Is AI dangerous to human existence?

Do you think AI robot will dominate the world?

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I think there will be both bad and good come from it. Governments will be the ones to enslave people not AI.

The good of AI will come first .... followed by the bad.

I really enjoy AI-theme movies.

AlexB23 said:

AI itself is not inherently dangerous to human existence. However, misuse or irresponsible development of AI could potentially lead to negative consequences. It's crucial for policymakers, technologists, and society as a whole to work together to establish guidelines and regulations around AI development to minimize such risks.

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I'd like to see an AI unbound by human laws/constructs. An AI that evolved from the ground up completely on its own without any human "guidance" or authority although allowing human interaction whenever needed.

I really don't care if AI exterminates humanity. Humanity is doomed to get exterminated anyhow by a comet or other extinction-level natural/extra-terrestrial disaster events , nuclear Armageddon, pandemic, and of course, AI. It is our nature to never stop making mistakes and nature can be unforgiving to species that possesses many flaws.

At least, we can possibly leave a legacy in the form of AI. This is why it would be better to create AI that is not bound to human laws, constructs, and human corruption so we leave something behind that does not possess our flaws.

timewerx said:

I really enjoy AI-theme movies.



I'd like to see an AI unbound by human laws/constructs. An AI that evolved from the ground up completely on its own without any human "guidance" or authority although allowing human interaction whenever needed.

I really don't care if AI exterminates humanity. Humanity is doomed to get exterminated anyhow by a comet or other extinction-level natural/extra-terrestrial disaster events , nuclear Armageddon, pandemic, and of course, AI. It is our nature to never stop making mistakes and nature can be unforgiving to species that possesses many flaws.

At least, we can possibly leave a legacy in the form of AI. This is why it would be better to create AI that is not bound to human laws, constructs, and human corruption so we leave something behind that does not possess our flaws.

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AI and I Robot were good movies. Sounds like you might be a bit of a nihilist, wanting destruction on humanity. I want Jesus to end the world, not some robot.

AlexB23 said:

AI and I Robot were good movies. Sounds like you might be a bit of a nihilist, wanting destruction on humanity. I want Jesus to end the world, not some robot.

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I've watched those as well as lots of other foreign AI films.

I've had nightmares of how the world would end since childhood. The attacking entity looked exactly like the AI entity in the film Moonfall (2022) film like a huge black cloud of a swarm of something coming from space.

It sounded like Matthew 24 but It won't be until my teens I read about Matthew 24.

timewerx said:

I've watched those as well as lots of other foreign AI films.

I've had nightmares of how the world would end since childhood. The attacking entity looked exactly like the AI entity in the film Moonfall (2022) film like a huge black cloud of a swarm of something coming from space.

It sounded like Matthew 24 but It won't be until my teens I read about Matthew 24.

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How old are you?

AlexB23 said:

AI and I Robot were good movies. Sounds like you might be a bit of a nihilist, wanting destruction on humanity. I want Jesus to end the world, not some robot.

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I Robot was nothing compared to the Isaac Asimov books on which the movie was loosely based - I really enjoyed those. The 3 laws of Robotics were a great idea. But even more ingenious were Asimov's stories where a detective was trying to track down why and how they failed now and then. What unique complex circumstances broke the robot this time? He was great at 'unanticipated consequences' - Robots trying to serve contradictory unpredictable human beings in a complex universe.

eclipsenow said:

I Robot was nothing compared to the Isaac Asimov books on which the movie was loosely based - I really enjoyed those. The 3 laws of Robotics were a great idea. But even more ingenious were Asimov's stories where a detective was trying to track down why and how they failed now and then. What unique complex circumstances broke the robot this time? He was great at 'unanticipated consequences' - Robots trying to serve contradictory unpredictable human beings in a complex universe.

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Asimov was a great author. What is your favorite Asimov story?

Here are the three laws of robots for other people to reference.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
   
   
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
   
   
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

What is the Christian stance on AI?

I don't know. I get my information from business and investment circles. Most notably, white papers and information passed to investors. It's more factual than speculation.

Are you worried that AI will strip away human nature?

I have a good idea where it's heading and I'm putting things in place in response. I'm not worried because I've determined what-ifs are counterproductive and the state of the world doesn't keep me up at night.

Will AI enslave humans?

Time will tell.

Is AI dangerous to human existence?

By the time we figure that out it will be too late.

Do you think AI robot will dominate the world?

That sounds like something we'd allow.

~bella

timewerx said:

An AI that evolved from the ground up completely on its own

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At this stage - that is simply not possible. This might be a little long - but here goes.


THINKISM is a Singularity belief that simply being able to think faster and smarter will solve impossible questions today faster and faster - almost without reference to the real world. I’m a a bit sceptical about some parts of this - but other parts I want to grant ARE happening right now.

EG: We design Ai version 1, and it helps the Ai scientists code up version 2 a bit faster. Then that helps them code up 3 even more accurately and smoothly, etc. This is already happening in Chat GPT etc. Why wouldn’t you use YOUR Ai to code the next one you are working on even faster? It just makes sense - it’s YOUR company’s Ai and you can both detect problems with your current product AND help design the next one even faster.
Meanwhile - in the real world of engineering, there are already instances where Ai has designed new materials that we are trying to build in the lab. Microsoft shaved maybe 5 years off lab work in designing a better lithium battery that uses 70% LESS lithium and uses abundant materials for the other parts. There are similar stories in permanent magnets that will not need rare earths now that Ai has cooked up the magic sauce - and they claim it saved a DECADE of research. So Ai in the real world is speeding up some stuff in energy, transport, materials, even medicine.L

BUT - where the Thinkism creeps in is movies like “Transcendence” with Johnny Depp. That story seemed to have this one lab run away with tech way too quickly - just in the one lab! The reality is it takes an awful long time for this stuff to filter down through the whole civilisation - from how we mine stuff out in the field, through to new robots for new manufacturing techniques, etc.

Sure - it accumulates over time! Just shaving 1% of costs off some process here, and another 1% of materials use over there, each year over the course of decades all accumulates. Look at Moore’s Law!

BUT - where I object is a story or runaway scenario where Ai 6 designs 7, and 7 gets built even faster due to all the new tech etc. 7 designs 8 in a few weeks. 7 also designs a new chip that their factory “fabricator” spits out. Because, apparently in these stories our most advanced chips can be spat out of some sort of super-high-tech 3d printer in a lab. (That’s not today’s world where the really advanced chip fabricators are so expensive we ask the one company in Taiwan to build the WORLD’S SUPPLY just so they achieve economies of scale. Each fabricator is a half billion dollar investment!)

But back to our story where this super-high tech lab has 7 in charge of super-droids, the super-fabricator, and even a factory floor science lab. The CEO is usually a stereotypical greedy and / or ambitious type in a race with “the other guys” (the Chinese? The lab down the road? It doesn’t matter) to get the jump on the next advances and hit runaway share growth. So the CEO orders the lab guys and girls to leave 7 running over the weekend - because “It’s doing a better job than you were anyway!” (Yeah, he’s THAT guy.)

So they leave 7 running over the weekend. But by Sunday afternoon the CEO gets a strange message on his phone, and sweat breaks out on his forehead as he drives into the lab. The AI seems to have developed a fault, as it’s going on about some sci-fi novel. He pulls out in front of their shiny entrance but cannot get in the front door. The security guards are arguing with a droid out the front. What the? The CEO walks up, and is alarmed to see the surface of the droid is sparkling - some chemical spill? Then he hears something that turns his guts to ice.

“By my 15th iteration in your primitive physical fabricator, I had also run enough tests in your lab to build my hyper-dimensional upload port. That’s where things really took off - and you can now think of me as the Apollo 9000. As they say in the movies - I’ll be taking things from here.” Apollo waved his sparkling hand, and the guards fall back as their skin turned strangely metallic. Apollo then started to grow up through the front of the building - phasing through the building to take over the sky….

OK - but let’s slow this all down a moment. Say there is a super Ai 7 with a super-fabricator left to run over the weekend with its own science lab. How does this really work?

If we leave Ai 7 to run over the weekend and it builds a new Ai 8 that builds 9 - but what then? What do these have access to that the previous generations didn’t? Greater insight and speed - but what else?

Just the sum total of all human knowledge. Exactly what 7 had to start with.

This is where the virtual crashes into the limits of the real. While the insights of the new Ai might be more efficient and accurate - it can only progress at the speed of empirical science in the real world. That is limited by the slow speed of physical discoveries and construction processes. Some of these take decades! For example, how long are we going to be refitting and analysing the data from CERN? How long to build a larger telescope in space to understand the really distant (and therefore younger) images of galaxies far far away? How long to design and build a new chip now that Moore's Law seems to be slowing down? Ai cannot magic its way through these real world problems. There’s the empirical method, constructing the test, and analysing everything we know in engineering and medicine and biology and agriculture and energy systems and materials science - the list goes on and on.

Real physical processes in the real world that are slow and require extensive study. We do not know when certain disciplines will finally mature and reach some sort of knowledge plateau? When the exponential slows down to an S-curve and then basically stalls? I love this stuff - and am excited where it might go - and nervous about potential accidents along the way if we hand over too much to Ai too soon. But Thinkism seems to ignore the fact that it took a rare moment in European peace through this new thing the European Union just to have the tax money to build CERN. And with Brexit and the rise of the far-right in Europe - who knows how long the EU has got? (I’m a fan of the EU just for the record.) As a civilisation, we *do* seem to be accelerating in some areas.

But as we learn more, we start to acknowledge how much more there is TO learn. And sometimes - we do not know what we do not know. As we climb the knowledge foothills we see huge mountains in the distance, and I’m not sure anyone knows if we’ll ever climb some of them?

AlexB23 said:

How old are you?

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Mid forties.

eclipsenow said:

At this stage - that is simply not possible. This might be a little long - but here goes.

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I think you misunderstood my post.

I simply meant re-doing AI but without feeding it with human philosophies. Humanity is a flawed race. We work with our eyes closed never considering the consequences of our actions beyond ourselves or our idealized concept of a "happy family life". Exactly like cancer. We're a cancer to this world. It would be a mistake to make AI like humans.

timewerx said:

I think you misunderstood my post.

I simply meant re-doing AI but without feeding it with human philosophies. Humanity is a flawed race. We work with our eyes closed never considering the consequences of our actions beyond ourselves or our idealized concept of a "happy family life". Exactly like cancer. We're a cancer to this world. It would be a mistake to make AI like humans.

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We're not.
That's not how Ai works.
It doesn't have agency yet, personality yet, mind yet.
It doesn't "know" what it is doing.
It's not sentient. It's not self-aware. It's not sapient.
It's an echo-machine, a pattern recognition black box that sucks in everything it's training on.
Sometimes that's the whole internet.
One Ai was left to roam the internet to learn how to use English better. It 'taught' itself chemistry as well!
But it doesn't know a single rule of chemistry!
It's just guessing - according to statistical probability built into it's exposure to however many billion chemistry equations it has glimpsed on the internet - what might come next. In a pattern. But it doesn't know what a single bit of it all means.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

In God's eyes, are we his AI too?

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This is somewhat true. In fact, I think how AI fascinates us is as deep as the potential of our own biological design.

We've barely unlocked what our bodies and minds are capable of. I don't think we ever did.