Secularist, scientism proponent, rationalist Richard Dawkins wants to end any influence of “religion.” In doing so, he actually tries to start a new religion. This new secular religion most likely began with French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. The coterie of Silicon Valley Generative AI leaders follow those unfortunate footsteps.
American Christians, hardly a unified voice, have responded without cohesion and with some uncertainty. Pope Leo XIV unhesitatingly issued a 42,000-word encyclical, ”Magnifica Humanitas,” in response to the challenges of artificial intelligence.
Cultural technology critic and professor of computer science Cal Newport wrote, “Last week, Pope Leo XIV released I’m still digesting the full document, but early summaries indicate that the Pope is not ready to meekly acquiesce to the AI future that we’ve been told is inevitable.”
Leo wrote, “With the heart of a shepherd and a father, I ask everyone to abandon the construction of yet another Tower of Babel and to join forces in building up the common good, so that humanity will never lose its beauty, and the world once again will come to recognize the human heart as the place where God desires to dwell.”
I’ve been involved with automation for more than 40 years. Its value has always been as a tool to remove humans from dangerous jobs, enhance consistent quality, and eventually providing necessary data to feed business systems. They are best when used to build up the common good.
I wrote a longer philosophical piece last week on the subject. I continue to caution us as Jesus followers not to be distracted by the hype. We must continue to focus on what Jesus told us to do—Love—God and one another. Do not become distracted or distraught by momentary whims in media or by “influencers.”
Newport adds his observation, “When AI leaders resignedly shake their heads, and talk about the need for the government to provide guaranteed income once their AI models automate all work, or eagerly describe a future in which we live happily alongside ‘machines of loving grace,’ this is not forward-looking pragmatism; it’s hubris. A new Tower of Babel built out of GPUs.”
Just as I wrote last week about how I’d love to see a huge outbreak of humility amongst us.
Is there some hope in the discourse? Newport concludes his essay this way.
“Thankfully, in recent weeks, there has been a marked shift in how technology executives talk about AI. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called BS on executives claiming they’re laying people off due to AI, calling the excuse ‘lazy’ and ‘just a way for them to sound smart.’ Perhaps even more surprising, just last week, Sam Altman admitted he had been ‘pretty wrong’ about his previous predictions that AI would automate large numbers of jobs.”
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