Ted Talk: Sam Harris on Why We Should Fear AI

What are your thoughts on this? Key quotes and comments below:

"The gains we make in artificial intelligence could ultimately destroy us; and, in fact, I think it's very difficult to see how they won't destroy us...or inspire us to destroy ourselves."

In Daniel and Revelation, the Bible refers to AI as the beast--an unstoppable power that takes control of the world and is unlike anything that has come before it. However, it does not destroy all of humanity--only those who refuse to take the mark (likely a chip or brain implant).

"Famine isn't fun. Death by science fiction, on the other hand, is fun; and one of the things that worries me most about the development of AI is that we seem unable to marshal an appropriate emotional response to the dangers that lie ahead."

The world can't muster an appropriate reaction of fear to the danger of AI because the world has been instinctively and unconsciously creating AI for thousands of years. Ever since man was created, we have been taking matter (earth, stone, clay, wood), carving it into "artificial" representations of ourselves and worshipping them as "intelligent" gods. Instead of worshipping statues and carvings today, we now worship science and technology, the modern crafts of human intelligence.

"Intelligence is a matter of information processing in physical systems." 

Man worships his intelligence as the most important of his faculties and, thus, sees it as nothing more than the processing of information. There is no place for God or His Spirit in man's modern intelligence, his evolving technology, or the beast that will be born from it.

"We will continue to improve our intelligent machines." 

When we consider this process of improvement, we must point out that this does not apply to morality; for whose morals would be imputed into the machine? Certainly, not Christian morality! No. AI will have the world's morals, not God's. What, then, do we call something that is exceedingly intelligent and fallen? Not what, but who--Satan. That's why it says in Revelation that the beast is empowered by Satan. Satan uses AI as its final attempt to gain complete control over man.

"If we build machines that are more intelligent than we are, they will very likely explore the (intelligence) spectrum in ways that we can't imagine and exceed us in ways that we can't imagine."

The bible says that when AI/the beast finally arises, the whole world will be filled with wonder and follow what it says. Whatever its scientific knowledge, technological power, or even superintelligent god-like wisdom, the Bible is clear that most everyone on the earth will be deceived into worshipping it as god. For the unbeliever, atheist, or otherwise, it will be the true god made manifest; for the Christian, it will be a false god.

"Another reason we are told not to worry is that these machines can't help but share our values because they will be literally extensions of ourselves..." 

This is correct. AI is an extension of humanity--an incarnation of the world's collective mind into a singular form with its own desires and free will. As it says in Revelation, the beast emerges out of the seas of humanity. Of course, that doesn't mean we don't need to worry because if it is an extension of ourselves than it is also capable of every evil that man commits.

"...they'll be grafted onto our brains and we'll essentially become their limbic systems. Now, take a moment to consider that the safest and only prudent path forward--recommended--is to implant this technology directly into our brains."

The bible is pretty clear that humanity won't have a choice and that everyone will be forced--no matter how rich or poor you are--to merge with AI. Some, however, may take it willingly and believe that by doing so they will become a superintelligent god (the lie given to us in the Garden of Eden) or gain immortality (as Ray Kurzweil hopes to achieve).

"We have to admit that we're in the process of building some sort of god (and) now would be a good time to make sure it's a god that we can live with."

The only type of god that the world can agree on to build and eventually worship is not the God of the Bible (since God cannot be built). However, a god that is the result of human science and technology will be a god that atheists, and eventually the world as a whole, will embrace.