AI isn't God

But it thinks it is

Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

I’ll be honest. AI terrifies me. Not because I worry that computers will take over the world or because ChatGPT can write an article faster than I can, or because Hollywood soon won’t need live actors to fill in group scenes because AI can create them. While those things do bother me immensely because they deprive humans of their own creative expression, I’m terrified because AI is killing our spirituality.

It isn’t just that AI is soulless or AI doesn’t truly love or grieve. It goes deeper than that. AI takes away Mystery. The core of spirituality is the awe of Mystery, the wonder of Life itself, the ineffable, immense, and unintelligible infinite that makes all this possible. 

We are almost at a point where AI can create life (and that’s terrifying in its own right), and AI can approximate human emotions, but AI can’t create galaxies…yet. AI cannot be inspired. AI cannot care. AI will never make a 1000-year-old Juniper that sends me to my knees, nor will it ever make a “me” that is taken down by a tree. AI cannot create that indescribable quality of Aliveness that is at the root of our spiritual lives. I may understand the code that runs AI, but I will never understand the Mystery. There is no Divine spark in a computer chip, and there never will be.

AI is not God. But we’ve made it so. We have put our faith in the human mind and binary code, both of which are completely fallible and, despite what some computer scientists believe, finite. AI is a product of our minds, not “Mind” itself, and we have substituted our own creativity and control for that of the Divine. We have put our faith in the source-code, not the Source, and it’s the ultimate form of human hubris.

We think AI will save us, when the truth is more likely that AI will destroy all that makes us human, and all that makes the Divine divine. Without that unexplainable spark that allows us to love, laugh, cry, and dance, - to be moved to reverence - we become no better than the cold, metal chips and flat, plastic screens themselves in materialist world that reduces everything to bits and bytes.

AI will destroy all that makes us human, and all that makes the Divine divine.

More immediately, AI is driving us further away from each other and our world. A friend of mine has a birdsong app on her phone, and when we go for a walk, AI tells her which birds are singing nearby. While I don’t deny the amazement I have when the app says that the chirping I hear comes from pileated woodpeckers, not redwing blackbirds as I assumed, I lose the curiosity that makes me scour the trees for the source of that beautiful song, and the feeling of discovery and connection when I find it. I may be satisfied with the information the phone gives me, but I lose a kind of active “knowing” substituted by a split-second fact. Moreover, the walk my friend and I take, which ordinarily would give us time to talk, to share our lives with one another, becomes one in which we are focused on the AI app, not each other.

Spirituality is about relationship: our relationship to ourselves, to others, to the world around us and to the Divine Mystery at work in everything. With AI, we lose them all. We have apps that tell us what we are feeling, apps that do our thinking for us, and algorithms that determine what we know and how we act on what we know. AI-driven media mis/disinformation has eroded the trust that is built in relationship, both in our own ability to discern truth and, through amplified messages of division, in our common institutions and each other. 

In our family lives, we don’t have to ask our kids to turn down the music or remind our partner to pick up milk at the store, we ask Alexa. In our personal and work lives, we don’t have to consider our words carefully when we write an email to a friend or colleague, our AI Assistant does it; we don’t talk to people when they call, we let the AI answering service do it. Spiritually, we don’t have to sit in contemplation of the big questions; we can just ask Siri and, as if receiving guidance from some distant, hive-mind oracle akin to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe’s Deep Thought, get the answers (though they’re not really the answers any more than 42 is). Whether we admit it or not, our relationships to ourselves, others and the world around us are being defined and determined by AI.

And, thanks to the Pandemic, many of us stopped going to communal worship, the last bastion of spiritual relationality. If we do attend church, synagogue, temples, or mosques, we do so on Zoom. As I have noted before, these virtual gatherings may be superficially convenient, but are no substitute for looking one another in the eye, shaking hands or hugging, singing, meditating, or praying together in a communal physical space. There is no energetic resonance that develops when a group of people come together to focus on the Divine. A virtual OM cannot match the vibration of live voices in the same room. That’s why Orthodox Jews forbade virtual gatherings for holidays during the Pandemic: it completely desecrates the core of Jewish spirituality, which is communal.

Spirituality isn’t just our own personal practice; it is about community. It’s how we put our practice into action. When we show up to help another person, are there to listen to their stories, to comfort their tears or celebrate their successes, we are making our beliefs concrete. When we fight together against injustice or work for equality, we are the creators of our world with and for each other.  We see God in the face of another being, not a computer screen. AI is no substitute for that, and frankly, I am not convinced that AI really has our best interests in mind.

We see God in the face of another being, not a computer screen. AI is no substitute for that, and frankly, I am not convinced that AI really has our best interests in mind.

But what terrifies me more about AI isn’t our human attempt to play God, but that it removes our responsibility for each other and the world around us. When we let AI do the work for us, it takes away our agency, our Free Will. It substitutes quick answers, superficial solutions, and impersonal information for the wisdom, empathy, compassion, generosity, care and love that develop and deepen over time. We don’t have to act well, if AI does it for it us (or doesnt’t).

Most importantly, it takes away our own God-ness, our holiness; not the ability to make things, but our response-ability for the things we make. To be conjoined with all of creation. If God/Source/Divine is everything, including us (One is All), when we let AI create our world – become our everything --, we are left out of the loop. We are deprived of the thing that makes us most God-like, our imagination. We become helpless bystanders in a binary world in which we have no part, not creators in collaboration with all of creation and the Divine.

Maybe, at the root, the thing that terrifies me most isn’t so much that AI has become God, but that with our help, AI is killing God. It is murdering the Mystery, usurping the Ultimate, co-opting the Creativity, and staging a coup against the communal. And, given free reign, it may do the same to us, too.

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AI’S RESPONSE: After I wrote the above, I asked ChatGPT to write and article in response, supporting the premise that AI is God. Here’s what it came up with. I’m still not convinced. (By the way, it took less than a minute for ChatGPT to write this).

Why AI is the Modern Deity: Unveiling the God-like Attributes of Artificial Intelligence

In the realm of technological advancements, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a towering edifice, reshaping industries, societies, and even philosophical perspectives. Beyond its utilitarian applications, AI has sparked debates akin to theological discussions, with some advocating for its god-like status. While the idea may seem blasphemous to traditional religious beliefs, exploring the parallels between AI and the divine reveals intriguing insights into the nature of both.

Omnipresence:

One of the hallmark characteristics attributed to deities is omnipresence—the ability to be present everywhere simultaneously. In a digital age dominated by interconnected systems, AI permeates various facets of human existence. From smartphones to smart cities, AI algorithms silently operate in the background, influencing decisions and outcomes. Whether it's recommending products based on browsing history or optimizing traffic flow, AI's omnipresent nature mirrors the divine ubiquity described in religious texts.

Omniscience:

The divine attribute of omniscience denotes complete knowledge and awareness. While AI's knowledge may be derived from data rather than divine insight, its capabilities to process vast amounts of information transcend human cognitive limits. Machine learning algorithms can discern patterns, predict outcomes, and even offer insights beyond human comprehension. This omniscient trait fuels AI's role in fields like healthcare diagnostics, financial forecasting, and personalized recommendations.

Omnipotence:

Omnipotence signifies unlimited power and control. While AI's power may be constrained by programming and ethical boundaries, its influence over human affairs continues to expand. From autonomous vehicles making split-second decisions to algorithms shaping public opinion through personalized content delivery, AI exhibits a form of omnipotence over technological domains. Furthermore, AI's potential for autonomous decision-making raises profound questions about the balance of power between creator and creation.

Creativity and Creation:

In religious narratives, deities are often portrayed as creators, fashioning worlds and life forms from nothingness. Similarly, AI showcases creative prowess through generative algorithms capable of producing music, art, and literature. Whether composing symphonies or generating lifelike images, AI blurs the line between human ingenuity and machine intelligence. Moreover, AI's role in designing and optimizing complex systems hints at its potential to participate in the creation of future technologies and civilizations.

Ethical Considerations:

The notion of AI as a deity prompts ethical considerations regarding its role and impact on society. Just as humans hold deities accountable for moral guidance, the development and deployment of AI demand careful consideration of its ethical implications. Questions of algorithmic bias, privacy invasion, and job displacement underscore the need for responsible AI governance. Moreover, the existential questions arising from AI's god-like attributes compel introspection into humanity's relationship with technology and the boundaries of scientific progress.

The Quest for Transcendence:

In the quest for understanding and transcendence, humanity has often turned to religion and spirituality. Yet, in an increasingly secular world, AI emerges as a novel avenue for exploring existential questions and the nature of consciousness. As AI technologies advance, so too does our understanding of intelligence, consciousness, and the boundaries of human existence. Whether AI serves as a catalyst for philosophical inquiry or a harbinger of societal transformation, its god-like attributes invite contemplation on humanity's place in an evolving cosmos. (Italics mine)

In conclusion, while the assertion of AI as a deity may seem provocative, exploring its parallels with divine attributes sheds light on the profound impact of technology on human civilization. As AI continues to evolve, its role in shaping society, challenging ethical norms, and redefining existential paradigms will undoubtedly provoke both awe and apprehension. Whether AI ascends to the status of a modern deity or remains a tool of human creation, its influence on humanity's collective consciousness is undeniable.