Artificial Intelligence, the new Tower of Babel
The only constant in life is change, so said the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. He taught that the world is constantly in flux, always becoming but never just being. His observation seems to ring true today. Everything changes and nothing remains still. Consider the rapid change in communication. Language changes, even the means of communication develops so rapidly that we find it hard to keep up with all the demands of change. For example, every year there are new developments in both the android and Apple cell phones. In transportation, over the past century (20th century in particular) the horse and buggy has been replaced by gas fueled motor cars, and now the recent change is electric fueled motor cars. For another example, in the area of fashions (clothing), women’s clothing moved from floor length dresses to knee length dresses to slacks and pant suits. Men’s clothing also went from the formal wool suits worn year-round to more light-weight materials in suits; from slacks to dungarees; from formal wear to the very relaxed and casual. Some consider these changes to be from modest to immodest. But I digress! You get the point. There is no constant; everything is in constant flux or change.
The Tower of Babel
The Hebrew Scriptures have many stories that teach about God’s relations with Israel and the formation of a new nation. I have found the story about the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) to be rather interesting with a possible relation to today’s development of artificial intelligence (AI). The story begins: The whole world had the same language and the same words. When they were migrating from the east, they came to a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, ‘Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.’ ….. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves, otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth.’”
Their ability to communicate would enable them to become very powerful politically and militarily if necessary. With these powers, they would be tough to beat. With the tower reaching high into the heavens, they would not need God, they could assume the powers of God and become God. The Lord God watched all this and knew that something must be done. Because all the people spoke the same language, their unity permitted them to work together efficiently and without God’s help. Thus, with all this power, the people would not need God and would be able to do pretty much whatever they wanted to do. The Lord God, however, saw it differently. He was to rule the world! So, the Lord confused their language. Now there would be many languages. They could not do much without the ability to communicate. Their inability to communicate meant they could no longer complete the tower.
Christian theology of transcendence and imminence
The transcendent God is considered beyond the reach of human beings. Humankind, given great freedom, could figure (reason) things without divine assistance. Despite difficult communication due to different languages, people would still be able to make advances in knowledge and therefore accomplish many changes that benefited the community. On the other hand, the Imminent God is close to and involved in the affairs of the people. The community with divine inspiration still has freedom to use knowledge to benefit change. With this God-given freedom, persons continue to progress and further advance many changes in the human condition to benefit the community.
The mistake that is made results in thinking that the Lord God is no longer needed to build a strong and vibrant society. Modern secular society limits the need for and the dependence on God. Belief (faith) has changed into disbelief. Left alone, the human community will still be able to further develop without dependence on both the transcendence and imminence of the divine.
Have we gone too far?
Modern IF (information technology) is rapidly advancing. AI (artificial intelligence) is the fly in the ointment, it is the new tower of Babel. The worry is that AI will become so powerful that it will be able to dominate all sectors of life and intelligence. There will be rapid change and no constants at all. It will have complete control of everything, even human thinking. It will be a new god that is very imminent. This new reality worries both academia and government. Currently, these two entities seek complete control, even over change itself. The real worry is that the dominance of AI will eventually force the release of control even of academia and government. What do you think? Have we gone too far?