Concerns about the potential misuse of artificial intelligence (A.I.) are escalating yet again after a prominent professor and philosopher said he believes A.I. could write a new Bible within just a few years.
Yuval Noah Harari, known for being a contributor and speaker at the World Economic Forum, is promoting the idea that A.I. will be able to generate a new globally acceptable religious book.
Harari's prediction is raising alarms for conservatives and Christians since the Bible is considered sacred as God's holy word to mankind.
Harari explained A.I.'s purpose in writing a new Bible during a recent forum called "A.I. & The Future of Humanity."
"It's the first technology ever that can create new ideas. You know, the printing press, radio, television, they broadcast, they spread the ideas created by the human brain, by the human mind," he said.
Harari said A.I. will soon be able to invent new concepts and beliefs that are more socially acceptable than the Bible.
"A.I. can create new ideas; {it} can even write a new Bible," he said, in order to establish unified and "correct" religions.
"Throughout history, religions dreamt about having a book written by a superhuman intelligence, by a non-human entity," Harari explained. Now he believes A.I. will become a new type of god.
READ Rise of the Machines: Are We Entering 'Dangerous Territory' with Machines That Replace God?
"In a few years, there might be religions that are actually correct … just think about a religion whose holy book is written by an A.I.," Harari said. "That could be a reality in a few years."
But this is not just a prediction for Harari. His past comments indicate he has animosity toward God's Word.
A few years ago Harari wrote a commentary in The Globe and Mail mocking the Bible, saying, "centuries ago, millions of Christians locked themselves inside a self-reinforcing mythological bubble, never daring to question the factual veracity of the Bible..."
He says the Bible is just fiction and compares it to fictional novels like Harry Potter.
"Billions of people have believed in these stories for thousands of years. Some fake news lasts forever," Harari wrote.
"I am aware that many people might be upset by my equating religion with fake news, but that's exactly the point. When 1,000 people believe some made-up story for one month, that's fake news. When a billion people believe it for 1,000 years, that's a religion, and we are admonished not to call it 'fake news' in order not to hurt the feelings of the faithful (or incur their wrath)."
Could A.I. Be Used for Good Too?
But could A.I. also be used is positive ways, maybe even as a tool to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ? Ted Esler is president of Missio Nexus, an association of U.S. and Canadian agencies and churches. He believes A.I. is here to stay and sees tremendous potential.
"The genie is not only out of the bottle, but at this point, I just don't see us turning back now," Esler said during an appearance on CBN News' The Global Lane. "I don't see missionaries being automated any time soon. But the many, many, many applications that will be available to us have created this new wild frontier, and its impact will be huge."
That could mean limitless opportunities for Christian ministry. For example, Bible translators already use A.I. in their work on scripture translations, thus speeding up that overall process. Online chatbots could also direct people to the Bible and Christian resources in more than 4,000 languages, helping overcome cross-cultural communication obstacles.
"The ability to go from one language to another, the barriers are quickly being reduced... interacting between languages in ministry work, whether it's church planting, discipleship, planning, meetings, all these things, is going to go through some fairly dramatic pivots and shifts over the next few years," Hirst said.
And that's why Hirst and other ministry leaders believe it is important for Christians to keep their focus on who's behind the controls of the A.I. revolution.
"Are we allowing and designing our systems, ministries, and structures to make sure that humans stay in the pilot's seat and actually that God is in the pilot's seat, that we are looking to God and that we are using technology like that?"
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