Opus 2023-284: Barbers and AI

I got my hair cut the other day and the barber asked me if I thought AI was the Babylon of Revelation.  It is not something I spend a lot of time on.  Some people are deeply worried about artificial intelligence and computers.  I had to explain, or try to explain, that computers are not really smart.  They’re just fast, have better memories and can do repetitious tasks over and over again without taking a coffee break. That got me thinking about the question of AI.  

And then I got to thinking about people.

Many people also are easily programmed. If you watch the mass demonstrations hating on Jews and screaming to kill Jews and destroy Israel, they are programmed to do that. They have not looked at any facts, thought it through and certainly are not using reason. They are just programs.  People know which button to push to get the desired result.  It works on the masses.  I always wonder how I would respond to that manipulation but I would not be in that situation to begin with.

Then I got to thinking about the world I live in, peopled by Christians.  When people genuinely meet Jesus their behavior changes.  I don’t feel the Holy Spirit programs us to do righteousness.  He makes us righteous.  It is what we want.  But even in the Christian world you have those who are so programmed but they don’t think. They become victims of legalism and all of its offshoots. Pastors, You Tube gurus, popular books, they all try to do your thinking for you.  Then I thought of a parallel in the computer world

We have some people who would be the equivalent of your original computer. Mine was a Kaypro 64.  We have other people that might be on the equivalent of a Cray computers. And the difference is they’re willing to think.  It isn’t how many years of school or the certificates on their wall.  It isn’t how much they make.  It is the willingness to think for yourself.

I am not worried about AI.  I am worried about people who have the ability to program computers to destroy everything I hold dear.  It is a totally different problem and the same one that has been around since the beginning of history.  

The battle continues.

homo unius libri