Will AI Take Over the World? Ghosts in the Machine

Though he was by no means the first nor the last to make this point, my father did a great service to the church by reminding it that “chance” has no causal power. Indeed it has no power at all, because it has no being at all. At the heart of naturalist philosophies disguised as scientific theories is the idea that the universe was created “by” chance. It wasn’t, because chance can’t do anything.

In our day we are hearing increasingly shrill warnings that artificial intelligence is exploding at such an astronomical rate that soon it will take over the world. The rise of the machines, a la Terminator, is right around the corner. Once again, scientists who argue such have left the realm of science and tripped over their own hubris.

What I don’t know about computing would likely not fit in all the terabits in the world. When I have a computer problem my toolbox contains this- trying rebooting. These claims, or fears, however, are based on a foundational confusion. I have no doubt that artificial intelligence can sound like a human, fool humans, out compute humans, know more than humans, do all sorts of scary and unimaginable things.

What artificial intelligence cannot do, however, is will. And it never will will. All the servers, all the software, all the hardware, all the memory in the world will never bring forth will. Will requires consciousness, and consciousness is a gift from God, not the fruit of men’s labors. No consciousness, no will. No will, no will to take over the world. No will to take over the world, no taking over the world.

Does this mean, then, that we have nothing to fear with artificial intelligence? Yes, and no. Artificial intelligence, like every other tool invented by man, will not replace all our jobs. Because our wants are infinite, there is always work to do. This too is a wasted fear in the long term. At its root artificial intelligence cannot replace humanity because it cannot possess what humanity possesses, the image of God.

That said there are two dangers I can think of with respect to this technology. Like all technologies, artificial intelligence can be used for evil. What it can do that we can’t do we can harvest for bad ends. It can also bring collateral damage, as we might become dependent on it and grow soft in our minds.

The second danger, however, is where natural intelligence might interact with artificial intelligence in a manner hostile to the world. God reminds us that we war not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. The demonic realm is not hermetically sealed off from this world. AI may just open those doors wider in ways we cannot begin to imagine. I don’t know how to stop this. I don’t know how to recognize this if it should or has come to pass. I do know we ought to take this seriously, that the battle is real. I also know, however, that He has overcome the world, and that His kingdom is forever.