The Church probably couldn't condemn AI as intrinsically evil, but I would love to see her publicly oppose its advancement. It feeds into our disordered desire to master nature and gain complete control over our surroundings, promising the fullness of knowledge - a parallel to our fall in Genesis. The idea that we can manipulate our surr…
The Church probably couldn't condemn AI as intrinsically evil, but I would love to see her publicly oppose its advancement. It feeds into our disordered desire to master nature and gain complete control over our surroundings, promising the fullness of knowledge - a parallel to our fall in Genesis. The idea that we can manipulate our surroundings and the promise of so much immediate knowledge at our fingertips both reduces our capacity to actually think as rational animals and makes it difficult to encounter God as living and true, and a radically 'Other'. Encountering AI Jesus - even if the answers are 'true' - is wildly different from having a deep, personal friendship with the risen Lord. Kyrie eleison.
AI is eating itself, in a way. It relies on data, but the more material it produces, the more it pushes humans out of the market, and the less unique data it has, and the fewer reality checks it gets, and the worse its answers get. People use it with the idea of getting something for nothing: getting answers without knowledge, understanding, or analysis. And they really just get nothing for nothing.
Humans can do an analagous thing without AI though. We call this echo chambers, or sometimes parroting. Or perhaps "vain repetition".
Agreed. The standard line from churchmen seems to be, "Any technology is neutral in itself and can be used for good or for evil." But what if there are just some technologies that make false assumptions about the good for which we are created? Or some forms of media (I'm thinking esp. of things like TikTok, Instagram, etc.) that by their very nature make false assumptions about the nature of the human person and what authentic communication looks like?
The Church probably couldn't condemn AI as intrinsically evil, but I would love to see her publicly oppose its advancement. It feeds into our disordered desire to master nature and gain complete control over our surroundings, promising the fullness of knowledge - a parallel to our fall in Genesis. The idea that we can manipulate our surroundings and the promise of so much immediate knowledge at our fingertips both reduces our capacity to actually think as rational animals and makes it difficult to encounter God as living and true, and a radically 'Other'. Encountering AI Jesus - even if the answers are 'true' - is wildly different from having a deep, personal friendship with the risen Lord. Kyrie eleison.
Sorry for philosophizing.
It’s created in our image and likeness.
AI is eating itself, in a way. It relies on data, but the more material it produces, the more it pushes humans out of the market, and the less unique data it has, and the fewer reality checks it gets, and the worse its answers get. People use it with the idea of getting something for nothing: getting answers without knowledge, understanding, or analysis. And they really just get nothing for nothing.
Humans can do an analagous thing without AI though. We call this echo chambers, or sometimes parroting. Or perhaps "vain repetition".
I appreciate your philosophizing.
Agreed. The standard line from churchmen seems to be, "Any technology is neutral in itself and can be used for good or for evil." But what if there are just some technologies that make false assumptions about the good for which we are created? Or some forms of media (I'm thinking esp. of things like TikTok, Instagram, etc.) that by their very nature make false assumptions about the nature of the human person and what authentic communication looks like?