Friday, July 7, 2023
There is so much chaos, provocation, violence and deception in the world that, if it weren’t for the fact of God’s grace and peace, and that our hearts and minds are hidden in Christ it could be emotionally and spiritually overwhelming. And while I do not advocate being an unrestrained news hound, I am a strong advocate of being informed of local, national and global events that I might, in the Words of Christ, be able to “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3), something for which Jesus strongly rebuked the religious leaders of His day of being without. It’s one thing to be informed of chaotic end-time events, but its altogether another to be participant with them, and by the authority of God’s Word to His people, I stand with the former, and oppose the latter.
If you’re paying attention to current events, in particular technological advancements, you know there’s much discussion about the reality and existential threat of artificial intelligence (AI), and that it’s very real. While most AI concerns are related to negative social and economic concerns, I bring concerns from a biblically prophetic perspective with true existential threats to humanity. In the above link it says, “If superintelligent machines are to destroy humanity, they surely need a physical form.” Below I will show you how, biblically, that that will one day soon be a reality.
In the love of Christ I strongly advise caution in the believers’ advocacy, involvement with, and personal use of AI in its myriad forms. First, to all fellow ministers of the Gospel, do not allow yourself the deceptive use of AI’s ChatGPT in conjunction with prayer, sermon preparation and teaching the Scriptures. Our ministry components must be Spirit-led, but AI’s ChatGPT, while a tempting shortcut, is not of the Spirit, nor can be. And to every church-goer, I urge you, if your ministers resort to using ChatGPT, leave that church, because machine leadership can never be led of the Holy Spirit. Yet, some are now falling prey to ChatGPT’s deceptive convenience.
A recent Fox News article outlines concerns that “Tech experts, Silicon Valley billionaires and everyday Americans have voiced their concerns that artificial intelligence could spiral out of control and lead to the downfall of humanity.” Some of those concerns regard “malicious use, the AI race itself, organizational risks and rogue AIs.” The production and use of AI will never be stymied by government regulation. Remember when governments said that cloning “Dolly” the sheep was unethical, even immoral, by some? Well, that’s now twenty-year-old technology. The technological combining of AI, robotics and biometrics, though disbelieved by some, is on the cusp of integrating itself into what, biblically, will be “an image to the beast” (Rev. 13:14).
Remember: “the beast rising up out of the sea” (Rev. 13:1), is a man, the Antichrist. And then, “another beast coming up out of the earth” (Rev. 13:11), is the false prophet who, “causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast…telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:12–15), the existential threat to man! The image will not be human or supernatural, but a tech creation of man. Has the tech world no idea what it’s creating? Maybe not but “the mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:7) knows. And tech gurus of evil comport may well know that they work to create that evil image.
Marlin J. Yoder
