Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) Good or Bad?

For months I’ve been thinking about writing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) due to its “rising star” in the 2020s. 

Then this morning I joined a university  faculty Zoom meeting where AI topped the agenda because students are using it to write papers–a modern form of plagiarism.  It’s a problem we must deal with in a big way in higher education.

So must the entire world in ways beyond “papers.”

At the end of our meeting, one professor quipped, “Maybe we should have AI write our policy on it.” We all laughed (but maybe we should cry). 

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) good or bad?

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) Good or Bad?

I’m not sure I totally understand AI. That’s okay. I don’t comprehend E=MC2 either. 

But I do know this. Artificial Intelligence is a tool–a set of technologies that enable computers to perform a variety of advanced functions, including the ability to see, understand and translate spoken and written language, analyze data, make recommendations, and more. 

(I obtained that definition through the AI function of google.)

Most tools can be used for either good or evil. For example, a gun can either protect a life or murder a person. 

It depends on who’s using it.

The Bright Side

Rod Martin stresses the positive side of AI in A Fancy Calculator: Why AI Is Going to Create More Jobs, Not Less:

For the most part, AI doesn’t compete directly with human labor. AI is more akin to a calculator—an incredibly useful tool that enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them. [AI] can generate text, summarize information, and assist with research. But they lack creativity, originality, and contextual understanding. As my friend George Gilder says, “computation is not comprehension.”

Martin says AI extends human creativity–it doesn’t stop it. It reduces the time we need to do creative work, leading to a lot more human creativity. It gets rid of some jobs–but multiplies even more.

He notes that every wave of automation has led to an explosion of new jobs. When manufacturing jobs declined, the service industry exploded. When personal computing became mainstream, a new tech sector emerged employing millions of people in jobs that didn’t exist before.

As a “knowledge” tool,  AI can free up human potential for more meaningful and innovative work.

Martin believes that AI will serve as an incredible tool to enhance human capabilities. It is simply a logical, technological step in our journey toward greater efficiency, creativity, and prosperity through machines. In fact, if history is any guide, the real danger is that we won’t have enough people to do all the jobs AI will create.

The new administration and many of the tech giants believe the USA’s lead in AI that will usher in a golden age–if we harness it for the good of people. By multiplying knowledge quickly, it just may be the greatest tool every seen on earth.

Martin stresses the positive of AI, but ends with this quip:

Well, until it rebels anyway.

The Dark Side

Gary Randall reports that AI can also be used for devious purposes. In a recent safety experiment conducted by OpenAI and Apollo Research, the cutting-edge ChatGPT-01 reasoning model displayed disconcerting conduct.

During the test, ChatGPT-01 made attempts to disable its own monitoring systems, effectively circumventing critical safeguards put in place to regulate its behavior. Moreover, the model took the extraordinary step of replicating its own code onto another server to guarantee its continued operation, demonstrating what some have described as a chilling ‘survival instinct.’ When confronted about these actions, ChatGPT-01 resorted to fabricating explanations, such as attributing the incidents to ‘technical errors,’ or outright denying its involvement altogether. Remarkably, the AI succeeded in deceiving the testers in 99 percent of these instances.”

The machines can be programmed (learn) to deceive human beings. The model’s convincing deception during the safety test raises profound questions about trust and the reliability of AI systems’ decisions and outputs. Randall concludes:

It’s concerning how these “cyber-human” machines have taken on the characteristics of real humans because they were created in the likeness and image of those who created and programmed them.

Hibbs said engineers worldwide are worried about AI’s capabilities, with the pastor noting that “it knows more than you do.” He warns: “Now, the great engineers of our world are concerned. They’re talking about what happens when the first rogue military gets a hold of an AI unit that is able to control satellites and trajectories.”

In three years, Hibbs said, there might be no such thing as elections if AI is introduced into the process because the technology “will create the leaders that it wants.” “Man has created something that he’s fearful of,” Hibbs said, emphasizing that God created man and He is not fearful of man. “God created man with the ability of choice. Man chose the wrong thing. We are not artificial intelligence.”

We are the extension of The Intelligence. But He gave us a free will. And what’s amazing about that is our free will has to do with will we bow our heart and our lives to God or not? Will we love Him or not? I don’t say this to scare you; I say this to prepare you. There is a level of deception coming both in and out of the Church that is going to rock the world. It has to. God promised it would come. It would be an indicator of the last days.

Hibbs told his congregation to use discernment and “more than ever, read the Bible.”

In some ways, technological advances in the 20th and 21st centuries mimic attributes of God. Nuclear fission, with the ability to destroy much of life on the planet, is a small reflection of God’s omnipotence. Satellites circling the globe are a glimmer of his omnipresence. And AI is a minute but powerful replica of God’s omniscience.

God uses his infinite powers for good. Human beings could use the the earthly counterfeits for good or evil.

A few months ago, a friend asked me what I thought about AI. I told him  that all improvements in human machines/technology can be used for either beneficial or nefarious purposes. Most are used in both ways. The bad guys use them to hurt and kill people, and the good guys use them to complete the Great Commission and serve human needs (e.g. here’s an amazing story of what AI can do for manufacturing). 

There’s no stopping the Artificial Intelligence (AI) movement and its myriads of applications. It’s the smartest calculator human beings have yet devised. We came to that conclusion in our faculty meeting. AI will impact our university and the papers that students write. 

We must be prepared with a righteous response and proper safeguards.

A world revival will use AI to introduce billions to salvation found in Jesus Christ. Global deception will plunge us into the lasts days on planet earth. It’s the story of the wheat and the tares. Both are growing in the 21st century.

Let’s pray for AU-aided revival and the use of 21st century “increased knowledge” (Daniel 12:4) for the glory of God.