Dear one,
In recent days I have been aware of concerns raised regarding AI (artificial intelligence). Without doubt, many of these concerns lie well beyond my comprehension, and, if you will, well beyond my intellect. What AI will mean in the academic world (AI generated PhDs?) or the manufacturing realm (unemployment?) I do not pretend to know. But whatever its meaning, somewhere fear lurks, surfacing in such questions: Through human ingenuity and intelligence, is it possible that we might “create” an Intelligence capable of rendering us subject to or even enslaved by its intelligent mastery? Or even more apocalyptic, could such an Intelligence destroy us?
As I give thought to my life—and admittedly mine has been narrowly shaped by my mid-twentieth century, California upbringing—I have lived amid the unveiling and subsequent aftermath of seemingly new inventions and/or technologies. Although August 6th and 9th, 1945 predates my birth, I certainly grew up in the cold light and fear of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—a fear of which Mr. Putin reminds us.
And then there was the unveiling (the dis-covering?) of “the Pill,” which came into our lives in a manner markedly different than that of the “the Bomb,” and yet it evoked similar concerns: How will this impact us biologically/sexually? And then somewhere with this discovery, invitro fertilization emerged, and, if not directly connected, cloning and the charged question: Are we entering upon a world of mutant “mistakes” and monsters?
Amid or along with these revelations, we entered the computer and internet world, in some regards the logical continuation of the age of television. That age, coinciding with Hiroshima, remains with us, whereby we can watch “TV” on our devices most anywhere at most any time—and mostly we wonder at and delight in these new dis-coveries.
Please don’t misunderstand me: these discoveries have been marvelous in so many instances, and yet each has brought with them an underlying foreboding: each new invention has borne dark, destructive consequences. Now if this last statement is true, then we might well conclude, that new discoveries are not necessarily good or bad in and of themselves; rather, it’s how they’re used, which then becomes a reflection upon who we are. Will we use them to benefit or to destroy one another? This is the operative question, and thus the source of our fear. Dark, destructive forces lie within us—and we know them.
Now, I doubt that we can so construct an Intelligence that, in absolute terms, will capably control and/or destroy us; rather, we tend to believe our own press releases, viewing ourselves as more powerful than we are. Nonetheless, even if we are as powerful as we fear, I believe there is One, who has a far greater investment in us and in our world then we can possibly match.
Moreover, if we peer through the mists of ancient Hebrew thought (Genesis 3-11), we encounter that One, who will and does save us from ourselves.
If our world seems out of control, or beyond our control, it is not beyond the control of Father-Son-Holy Spirit. That One has determined our gracious beginning and will graciously determine our end—in spite our destructive tendencies.
Wondering,
Stan