A Virtual Church

When the genie gets out

Today

Artificial Intelligence is so powerful now that it is generating additional intelligence on its own. Sam Altman, Anthropic and others are weighing in on the problem. While AI is a boon to many, it is not benign.

One glitch could unleash havoc that would be catastrophic to humankind, animals, and all creation. All living things could disappear within the next couple of decades. Sounds dystopian, but it is not out of the realm of possibility for life to go the way of the dinosaur.

In Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, she tells how the introduction of pesticides killed off birds in big numbers. Some species remain extinct.

There are existential threats we’ve know about for years – Nuclear War, climate change and pandemics that sweep through populations with fury.

Artificial Intelligence has no conscience, no compassion, no empathy. It is created in a data processing machine that holds great power and threat to the world.

AI creators are sounding an alarm. Who in power is listening?

Problems cluster in our midst, and our leaders are neutered, quiet, and incompetent to manage this problem. We have a non-functioning government at every level.

We have a president who cannot comprehend much beyond his own wants. He dismisses the AI threat as a hoax. Poor guy. His interest is ballrooms, reflecting pools and the war he dragged us into all by himself. Now a gigantic Arc de Trump that will destroy the sightlines around Arlington Cemetery is what he cares about.

We need grownups in congress to thwart Trump’s worst impulses. We need a Supreme Court and a Justice Department that can at least slow him down. Is there anybody anywhere in our government who will say NO to him?

Our preacher Sunday talked about forgiveness, mercy, and grace. She encouraged us to be light bearers in the world. There is heaviness around us that needs lifting in the joy and Light of Christ.

This world God created is worth fighting for. Everything is not a moneymaking scheme. Everything is not transactional. Care of creation is our call to stewardship. This is a lesson a lot of people have not learned.

People around the world toil in backbreaking jobs, some unaware of the threats on the horizon. They are simply doing the work that sustains them and making a living, not aware of the decisions other people are making, decisions that affect them greatly.  

Hal was the Artificial Intelligence and main character in 2001 A Space Odessey. When Hal malfunctioned, many people died.

Without compassion and empathy, we are reduced to automatons who enact harm without compunction.

AI is the Original Sin that lets us be God in the world. God controls a universe full of sentient creatures, who feel pain, anxiety, fear, and the whole gamut of human emotion. When we live from the center of our being, we care about others, we feed the hungry and welcome the stranger. We work for good in every place.

Perhaps a leader who has no moral center and no compassion and empathy is the wrong person to guide us through troubled waters.

Putting a genie back in a bottle is akin to putting toothpaste back in the tube. It’s easier to get a new tube.

We need a new leader.

Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist, and host of the blogsite Avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com. 

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