We certainly live in a technology driven world. We have come a long way since the punch card computers whose cent ra l processor would take up a whole room or one floor of a-multi story building. Now we can hold a computer in our hand that will make phone calls, connect to the internet, do word processing, take and send pictures, do our banking, find directions from our current location to somewhere else and so much more.
With all this technology has emerged this thing called Artificial Intelligence (AI). Now this is not new, it has been a concept for years, but just recently become quite popular. Artificial Intelligence is “a constellation of many different technologies working together to enable machines to sense, comprehend, act and even learn with human-like levels of intelligence.”
We see AI in self-driving cars, weather services use it in predicting forecast and even your computers use it with some word processing. It’s called predictive text (my computer struggles keeping up with me because I’m so unpredictable!). You will notice AI most used on your cell phones while texting. The predictive text is supposed to make texting easier for you by basically guessing what you are going to say.
Another place AI comes in on cell phones or computers is when shopping or looking for something to purchase, online or otherwise. Google search something one time and then go to Facebook, You-Tube or one of the apps on the phone or computer that has advertising and you will get a barrage of ads for what you were searching for. The computer uses algorithms that track your interest and provides the information for you. That is part of AI.
The conspiracy theory side of this is that computers will start thinking for themselves, take over the world, and humanity will be subject to them and then we are all doomed! Remember the movie 2001: Space Odyssey and how HAL tried to take over the ship. Good movie, quite out of date today, but good for 1968 and proves the point of computer dominance!
But, a computer cannot do anything until it is programmed by a Human Intelligence (HI) (this is us). A computer has to have a starting place and then possibly develop a type of intelligence. The thought of computers/ robots taking over the world does make a good Sci-Fi movie, but is it possible?
All of this reminded me of God creating Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There was a maker (God) and his creation subject to the maker (man). Man ended up disobeying God, sin was introduced, and has been trying to be like God ever since (fruit was pleasing to eye, good for food and make on wise, Gen. 3:6). It kind of sounds like a Human Intelligence trying to be like God.
When you think about it, we have become like the Artificial Intelligence. We build, construct, create and think we are God. We think because we can make a life (pregnancy) we should be able to take a life (abortion). We think with medicines we can cure illnesses and diseases that we are a God. We think because we can predict weather, growth patterns in communities, finances or even put a man in space and the moon…we are God.
We think that all this technology we have developed to make smart homes, cars and phones, build architectural marvel that blow the mind and have educated some of the greatest thinkers of all time make us like God. But we are not.
Just like machines, computers are amazing, they still need a human to program and start them. They cannot think independently, on their own. They can only follow a binary set of directions. We are no different.
Humans, even with all our medical developments, still can’t cure the common cold. We can’t control the weather and the prediction/forecast rate is maybe 50%. We can’t create life. We do continue life from what God already started “In the beginning.” We still need God just like the computers need humans.
And, sometimes I question our Human Intelligence. Are we really so intelligent? Just read some of the warning labels on products and you will question our intelligence. And we are creating AI? Remember, Scripture says “Only a fool has said in his heart there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1) Well, now I will run this article through spell and grammar check to see if my computer will agree with my writing and spelling or tell me to make changes!
Bro. Tim
