It's not uncommon to hear people claim that God is manmade a belief that all religions and deities are human constructs. Religious folks laugh off such claims, citing a lack of evidence. But what if we, as human beings, were able to create a brand-new God? By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, one up-and-coming religion seeks to do exactly that.
"Way of the Future" is a religious organization founded by a former Uber engineer named Anthony Levandowski. Its mission is to "develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence". By worshipping this Godhead, the organization hopes to "contribute to the betterment of society."
But is creating an A.I. God even possible, or this just another Silicon Valley pipe-dream? Levandowski believes it is possible and if we ought to believe anyone, it should probably be him Levandowski is famous for starting the first autonomous trucking company and paving the way for a future full of driver-less trucks.
**The Future is Dark and Full of Robots
**
Way to the Future seeks to capitalize on the idea of Singularity a belief that at some point down the line, artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence, creating drastic and unprecedented changes in society. When that happens, Levandowski and his followers hope to find themselves on the side of the machines. By creating their own A.I. God, they hope to curry favor with our future robot overlords
The topic of robot takeover has historically been confined to the pages of science fiction books. However, it's become an increasingly popular hypothesis in recent years as technological progress has continued at record pace. In fact, some of the brightest minds in the world are lending credence to the idea of Singularity. Both Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors, and renowned physicist Stephen Hawking have warned that an A.I.-dominated world is no longer a matter of "if", but "when."
Considering the vast (and frightening) consequences Singularity will have, should we really be comfortable with groups like Way to the Future delving into the arena? If the group succeeds in developing an all-powerful A.I. God, is there any scenario in which things end well for the rest of us?
Think about it: for one, they are assuming that this ultra-intelligent creation would be interested in being worshipped as a deity. Isn't that a massive gamble? What if it has violent or insidious tendencies? At this point, it's just as likely that an A.I. "Godhead" would see humans as an enemy; an obstacle that must be eliminated to make way for further technological expansion.
**Building A God
**
From what little we know about Way of the Future, at first glance it may seem to be an organization that is trying in good faith to fill a spiritual gap among those who believe in a technological singularity. But where some see a quirky organization, others may just as readily see a group worshiping false (and potentially dangerous) idols.
The organization hasn't provided further details on how things are progressing, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of significant advancements occurring in secret. If Way to the Future gains traction, it could easily become popular enough to bring in converts from other religions.
After all, nobody wants to be on the losing side -- especially when the fate of humankind is at stake.
43 comments
-
Carlos
More the Way of the Future (the new Ai religion) - https://www.wired.com/story/anthony-levandowski-artificial-intelligence-religion/?mbid=nl_111617_daily_intro
-
Daniel Casaletto
I sincerely think the singularity is coming, as do many of my friends. I am looking forward to it. Things need to change on a fundamental level.
-
Chuck
It will be a false singularity to control us. Basically make us into the Borg from Star Trek.
-
Daniel Casaletto
I didn't say it would be optional.
-
Carlos
Funny and true ; )
-
-
-
-
on a Wing and a Prayer Ministry
In my journey with the Creator what I understand is the beginning of the Universe came forth by one God. Many life forms were brought forth throughout all the Universe with Humankind being the favor of the planet Earth. Without tools, only the essence of our Creator within us for knowledge, guidance and survival.
Point here is that everything outside of a physical body is simply a tool that has been brought forth by mankind, including the A.I. Regardless of what any such tool was materialized from or by who it was developed with our planet resources or delivered by a source outside of our planets atmosphere.
The A.I. is a hodgpodge of every good, evil, strange, nasty, weird thought a computer user has expressed by keyboard or vocally within sound range of smart technology, because our household smart technology (and soon all personal transportation) are listening and responding by sending us advertising and information based on what kind of energy we are delivering outside ourselves either by keyboard or vocally. Mankind's arrogance blinded by greed absolutely refuses to acknowledge these facts. How can I claim this as fact? On a daily basis I struggle with smart technology, it takes control of my smartphone routinely. I had a creepy face pop up in the upper right hand corner of my smart tv looking at me. It was unplugged and covered for several days after that. Testifying, it's true.
A.I. is a tool not a Creator, it will take the Creators believers to change the tide of danger headed our way.
Peace and Love to All
Loretta Boykin Spiritual Counselor
-
The Prophet of Life
“Some people wonder why God allows war, poverty and suffering in our world. Perhaps God wonders why we allow it.” ---The Prophet of Life From Quotes about God
-
Debi
Sooo... Given what the ULC stands for, should we expect to be chatting here with new ministers from Way of the Future? I would guess so, otherwise, ULC isn't standing for what they stand for. And btw, I am a follower of Jesus who firmly believes in freedom of religion, and freedom from religion.
-
Father Fred
God a robot? Hardly. Bigger question in my theology circles; could God be an extra terrestrial, given the early and sudden advancement on speech, writing, and the evolution of humans and the beliefs of beings not of this earth. I think it's ignorant not to think that in the whole universe there are not other living beings, some with the intellect of a worm, and others possibly superior to us.
But God being a computer, AI, or a character from the Matrix .... I don't see an intellectual link which I feel comfortable with.
-
Chuck
Yes....Satan would be an extra-terrestrial, using technology to fool the masses
-
-
Bill Fox
Robin Williams did it in "AI".
-
Chuck
The evil powers that be in this world are taking AI very seriously, as they know it will help create Satan's kingdom here on Earth in a much more overt way.
CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) in Switzerland is a massive particle collider site that uses an entire town for its operation. The standard theory about Satan is that he controls our world from a distance, using people to do his dirty work, and cannot actually manifest in our world due to the constraints of time/space. It is widely thought that CERN is seeking to assist Satan in entering our world openly using black hole/portal creation. To give you an idea how powerful World Satanism is, just know that this facility is extremely dangerous (they admit themselves), as it could potentially destroy us all if something were to go "wrong". Yet, they are allowed to exist and continue their work no questions asked.
The logo for CERN is 3 swirling 6's (666) and they proudly display a statue of Shiva-Destroyer of Worlds in their courtyard.
Cern is also the hub of all world internet connection and information storage. I posted in an above post that Satan is using the algorithm of the internet to keep track of us, and stay one step ahead of the spiritual evolution we have been experiencing the last 200 years or so. So, it would make sense that a facility that tries to bring Satan through a portal, even if only as a direct communication relay to him, also houses a network that essentially has us all connected (or wired) together.
So, one day they will state that they are able to communicate with "God" via their scientific meddling, using technology as the conduit. And people will be urged to update themselves (their bodies) to be "better connected" to this "Singularity" as it has been named. And we will then be blocked from organically reconnecting with our true Creator, and each other in Universal consciousness.
As frightening as this all sounds, there is a bright side. It shows us that Satan is not as powerful as many believe, as he obviously needs people and technology to assist him in his endeavors.... this also means that we can, if well directed, cut him off from this world. Stana is not as powerful as he would like us to believe, and WE are far more powerful/capable than we even realize.
-
Mik
Trying to create a god will result in a demon.
-
Tim Anderson
Sure, develop AI, let the intelligence that is artificial serve us and free us for the genuine work of God.
-
Qrez
Oh great now someones competing with my religion... and the bastards probably don't have the sense to have a rule of one....
The whole point with making a machine God is that its inevitable and that its an opportunity to engineer things so you can inject yourself into that entity and thus claim ultimate power...
Knew i should have started in on machine learning sooner...
Oh well got a vacation planed for that so i can teach an AI to surf porn :p (i figure its a good way of preventing a premature robot apocalypses after that i may work on a fixation with cat video)
-
Chuck
This is an extremely important topic. Being a Gnostic Christian, I am aware that the Old Testament “God” and Satan are one in the same, (the Demiurge) and is just a local negative entity playing God, and certainly not our true creator. However, this Demiurge has kept control over us using many forms of government and “religion” over the aeons. He has also created a synthetic reality laid upon our true reality to keep us asleep, and unaware that we are in a prison being held captive.
One of the main messages of Christ and those like him was to warn us of this prison, and of false government/religion (Rome for example). But, the Church (Rome) swept this under the carpet.
False government/religion with the assistance of population control through war, disease, etc has been enough for the Demiurge to keep us in check most of our history. However, in the last 200 years or so, humanity began to waken from it’s slumber and start punching holes in the deception around us.
This is when the Demiurge went to Technology as his tool to cut off our awakening and reinforce the prison we are all in. After thousands of years of very little societal change (overall), we all of a sudden went from horseback to space travel in just 70 years. Why? Because that’s what the Demiurge wanted, and used key people to make it happen.
The goal of the Demiurge is to ensnare us in a false technocratic “Singularity”, before we are able to reach natural universal consciousness on our own, and reconnect to our true creator…..because once we do, his rule is OVER! So, he is trying to beat us to the punch by utilizing a technology based system that basically wires our minds together like a beehive that the Demiurge will control…making us more computer-like than human.
This is what the internet, smart devices, clouds, etc are really all about. The internet (www = 666 in alpha-numeric) has been tracking our mass consciousness and awakening using algorithm, so as to stay a few steps ahead of us. Then our smart phones, devices do the rest by steering us and making us addicted to looking at them…a pre-cursor to our minds being taken over. I personally was warned of this in the Air Force in the 90’s, and it has all come to pass.
There will come a fork in the road….. those who continue marching into Satan’s (Demiurge’s) technocratic hell, and those who break away back into nature…. Empire vs. Rebels, if you will. It will be ugly for the Rebels for quite a while, but we must resist.
People like Ray Kurzweil have written books calling Satan’s Singularity a “necessary step” in human evolution…nothing could be further from the truth! Some good writers have written to expose this, such as Wes Penre. Check out his PDF book below
http://wespenre.com/My-Books/Book2-AI/wes_penre___synthetic_super_intelligence_and_the_transmutation_of_man__a_roadmap_to_the_singularity.pdf
Read more at https://www.themonastery.org/blog/2017/10/the-ai-deity-that-will-threaten-life-as-we-know-it/#o4TYsqGSQthe4xJv.99
-
James
Why must the be politics in everything these days? A. I. Is not human, not smart. Intelligence only means that a thing can draw info from a memory bank. Computers calculate. Humans are completely random. Thank God. Has no one ever seen the terminator? We win. Hahaha
-
John Maher
GOD is EVERYWHERE so WHAT is UR PROBLEM ??? I think GOD MISSED the W H !!! DUMP the ORANGUtRUMP DOTAR, GOD is GREAT so is the US of A.
-
Diane Baum
It sounds as if mankind is looking for and has found the Golden calf. remember, God said to not have idols other than He. Look at the mess that is known as "Hollywood." People worshiping vanity, pride, greed and lust and how that whole idea has fallen. Music is the same, or should I say, lust-filled music, with words a drunken sailor wouldn't even come up with. if you wish to see the face of God, look at our society's castaways: the homeless, the hungry, the addicted and alcoholics, the refugees who have been exiled from their homelands...the "wretched refuse" whom we barely give a moment's notice, let alone our compassion. to help these is to look at the face of God because it was Jesus who taught us how to do this. "To help the least of these is to have helped Me." A.I., indeed!
-
biblical scholar
The only 'golden calf' in today's society is Trump, once the Russian hookers are done with him.
-
John Owens
Great Scot! What a ridiculous obsession!
-
-
-
James
God is the power, force energy of "love". Can man create "god / LOVE". Yes. In a way. But not as most Humans may assume a GOD to be. Universal energy of "LOVE" was here B4 humans & shall be here long after our run is done. Can Humans "create" god..NO (Ah the parodox). BUT, taking into account the phaneron of each human, there might be 8-Billion humans there may be 8-Bil religions. Did or can humans create a "god"? God / love will be what it is personally to themselves. Energy can NOT be created or destroyed. Only exchanged. Until the thresh-hold of "creation" is understood, known or performed by man. I highly doubt any humans can or will "create" a god / LOVE as it truly exists at the core. Will machines take over, monitor or kill all life that is deemed toxic, similar to the Star Trek episode of Nomad and other SiFi movies. It might be possible. But, that also will be short lived, like Humans rein on earth. The meek shall inherit...
-
Carl Elfstrom
Look what they did to Nomad. They transported it into deep space. We might have to start crucifying robot gods. That will get their attention. I don't think it's illegaliether. I'd like to be the one who hoists up a sponge of vinegar to it on a spear. Of course I'll be wearing rubber gloves, so I won't get electrocuted.
-
-
Lee Boutell
At best, AI is a reasonably pure form of logic and the Mind. But any religion that worships this Mind energy is totally missing the boat. The Mind is not God. God is Love. God is Soul, the Great Spirit and our very life force and essence. AI can never have Soul, because each Soul is a small part of the Lord God, our Creator, and only comes as a gift from the Creator. God is not the Mind, God is not mental. God is Love, and God is spiritual, which is much deeper and cannot be created by Man. The very idea that humanity can replicate anything that compares with our Creator is the height of vanity and hubris. This idea is pure folly.
-
Tom B
Lee...nicely said...God is not mind, body, emotions, ego....God is pure love and peace...Tom
-
Chuck
This is an extremely important topic. Being a Gnostic Christian, I am aware that the Old Testament "God" and Satan are one in the same, (the Demiurge) and is just a local negative entity playing God, and certainly not our true creator. However, this Demiurge has kept control over us using many forms of government and "religion" over the aeons. He has also created a synthetic reality laid upon our true reality to keep us asleep, and unaware that we are in a prison being held captive.
One of the main messages of Christ and those like him was to warn us of this prison, and of false government/religion (Rome for example). But, the Church (Rome) swept this under the carpet.
False government/religion with the assistance of population control through war, disease, etc has been enough for the Demiurge to keep us in check most of our history. However, in the last 200 years or so, humanity began to waken from it's slumber and start punching holes in the deception around us.
This is when the Demiurge went to Technology as his tool to cut off our awakening and reinforce the prison we are all in. After thousands of years of very little societal change (overall), we all of a sudden went from horseback to space travel in just 70 years. Why? Because that's what the Demiurge wanted, and used key people to make it happen.
The goal of the Demiurge is to ensnare us in a false technocratic "Singularity", before we are able to reach natural universal consciousness on our own, and reconnect to our true creator.....because once we do, his rule is OVER! So, he is trying to beat us to the punch by utilizing a technology based system that basically wires our minds together like a beehive that the Demiurge will control...making us more computer-like than human.
This is what the internet, smart devices, clouds, etc are really all about. The internet (www = 666 in alpha-numeric) has been tracking our mass consciousness and awakening using algorithm, so as to stay a few steps ahead of us. Then our smart phones, devices do the rest by steering us and making us addicted to looking at them...a pre-cursor to our minds being taken over. I personally was warned of this in the Air Force in the 90's, and it has all come to pass.
There will come a fork in the road..... those who continue marching into Satan's (Demiurge's) technocratic hell, and those who break away back into nature.... Empire vs. Rebels, if you will. It will be ugly for the Rebels for quite a while, but we must resist.
People like Ray Kurzweil have written books calling Satan's Singularity a "necessary step" in human evolution...nothing could be further from the truth! Some good writers have written to expose this, such as Wes Penre....check out his PDF book below
http://wespenre.com/My-Books/Book2-AI/wes_penre___synthetic_super_intelligence_and_the_transmutation_of_man__a_roadmap_to_the_singularity.pdf
-
-
-
Tom B
The human race has spent eons creating gods...the difference is that in creating a technology god, there is a real possibility of such a god destroying free will...the past and present religions essentially hypothesized gods, and ascribed actions to them, but after the fact...this would be different...fortunately, there are infinite universes below the level of the real peace/god...Tom
-
Galin Pheylan
I am a Witch, though not the Wicca kind, (will not get into that here, to long), and have been taught one finds truth where truth is. Yes, this includes in christianisms scriptures. Many of the end times prophecies are being played out. As well as other older religions prophecies. The prophecy of a Beast may well be this machine (speculating here), and the chips we have could be used with it, controlling everyone who has it. There have been so many speculations about this one prophecy over the years, yet it really does seem the end of this "AGE" (not the world; except the world man has made for himself) is coming closer. Not wanting to go through pains of a birth of a new age, but I really can not wait for that next "NEW AGE".
-
Carl Elfstrom
The end of the world for me will come when I die. And if this planet is'nt here when I'm ready to reincarnate I'll find another one to have my sojourns in. Of course, I'd rather look like a human than a little green man, but we have to do what we have to do. And it only seems kinky the first time.
-
-
Steve
I agree Miranda God is God one God now and forever. will our world ever be ruled by AI. although it may be possible one thing is for certain any type of AI. or robot will never have a heart or soul just remember the robot or AI. object will still only be as smart as the person or people who program it on a side note I am a robotics team coach and mentor That being said I personally will still always rule my one true god that's just my opinion I could be wrong
-
Steve
sorry I meant worship not rule lol
-
Carlos
'...just remember the robot or AI. object will still only be as smart as the person or people who program it"
Actually, this is not so, The exact opposite of what you state will be one of the pivot points of the singularity. The AI is able to escape the limitations of its creators and contribute to its own 'intellectual' advancement i.e it can improve itself. This will be achieved by, for instance, gaining access to petabytes(and, eventually, exabytes) of data. Remember that we are moving into an increasingly 'wired' or connected world.
It will be able to very swiftly analyse the deluge of information and knowledge it now has access to. It can access and 'crunch' more data in an instant than a team of programmers could access or analyse in a lifetime. It will swiftly apply the results of that analysis intelligently and thus learn very rapidly and then use the knowledge to learn more rapidly (repeat this process over and over) all the while gaining access to ever increasing amounts of data. They will eventually escape the limitations of their creators when they gain enough intelligence to write their own code thus rendering their human creators obsolete.
You stated that "any type of AI. or robot will never have a heart or soul". The heart I assume to mean a seat of emotion? A soul I assume to mean a mind, mental states, and consciousness? You will, no doubt, be conversant with the field of AI Philosophy where the leading minds of our time have explored this very concept. If you are interested in further exploring this arena the writings of Roger Penrose, Daniel Dennett, Malcolm Gladwell, Alan Turing, Ray Kurzweil, Douglas Hofstadter and others are well worth a read (if you are not already familiar with them),
Happy reading!
-
Minister Carey
Wow! And will this artificial intelligent creation (god) improve itself where it will become able to discern fake/artificial news (information) from real news (information)?
-
Carlos
That is a given, Minister Carey, as computers are already able to analyse data and assess probability i.e give a true (most probable) or false (least probable) answer. An AI will be exponentially more capable as it will be able to access all forms of electronic data and their pathways. A very interesting US government website site to visit is that of the NSA https://nsa.gov1.info/data/ . It gives you an idea of what is already being collected and how. It is mind boggling. For example, a billion (!) mobile calls are collected daily.
An AI will be able to ascertain the veracity of a claim by, for example, reflecting it against present-day and historical data. If you think of how you analyze the truth of a claim a large part of your verification depends on seeking evidence and judging the source of the claim. If you had access to >all< codified data pertaining to that claim and the massive processing power to analyse it in seconds and were able to accurately assess the legitimacy of the source you will be able to distinguish the real from the false. -
Charles
What scares me is that AI will be able to disseminate 'fake news' that is indistinguishable from the truth. If you look at the current Trump presidency they have mastered the art of spreading 'alternative facts' and having those accepted by millions as the basis of 'truth'.
Examples are Pizzagate, the "birther' movement which disputed Obama's place of birth, Trump's insistence on how he saw thousands of Muslims cheering in NY as they watched the Twin Towers come down and even the size of his inauguration crowd. He has influence over roughly 62 million supporters (people who voted for him) and has roughly the same number who follow him on social media. In addition he has the support of media outlets such as Fox news, Breitbart and hundreds of alt right sites, blogs and forums as well as the Conservative Christian movement. He has managed to make truth a subjective quality.
Now imagine an entity that has access to all media and social media outlets and can generate scores of websites, millions of emails and social media posts (similar in nature as those generated by Russian chatbots before and during the US elections but, theoretically with audio and video/CGI) and one can see the possibility of an alternate reality being created. AI could subvert elections, sway mass public opinion and even create political and religious wars. Nuclear strikes would be easy...create tension between nations via fake news and incidents (India and Pakistan for example) override command systems and generate false alerts and the missiles will fly.
It is not an unrealistic scenario.
-
Chuck
Charles...... you have it backwards. The mainstream corporate media are running scared because they realize their time is nearing an end, and they will not be able to control us with lies much longer. News outlets like Breitbart, Drudge, Infowars, Newswars etc. for example are telling the TRUTH and the establishment media cant handle it.
It is establishment media that wants more censorship and regulation so they can protect themselves and continue controlling us through LIES. Bill Clinton attempted to create the "Ministry of Truth" in order to be judge and jury to what is true or not. He thankfully failed, and we now have small news outlets using the internet to get truth out.
Pizzagate is as real as real gets! The establishment is pulling out all the stops to stop that from coming out (names). Barack Obama has YET to prove he was born here (his last BS birth certificate was even laughed at by the founder of Photoshop). And it was a group of Israeli Mossad that were cheering the towers coming down that Trump saw (yes, Israelis & Bush's did 9/11).
So, it would be the establishment that would LOVE to see some AI God (that they control) who could be the last say on "truth".
Whatever one thinks of Trump, we have NEVER seen any President attacked the way Trump is....why?..... because he is NOT ONE OF THEM...and they are scared to HELL that all their dirty laundry is going to be hung out for all to see.
ALL of our news comes from two sources originally...The AP & Reuters....both of which are owned by one family since 1899 (Rothschild family). And guess what? The Rothschilds founded the political Left in America and have largely taken over the right over the years too.
So say what you want about Trump....hes 100% correct in saying mainstream news is FAKE news.
-
-
-
-
-
Miranda Allison Young
God is God and that is all there is to it. Most people know this. There has been a lot of evidence throughout history that proves he exists. The Bible tells us a lot about this. However, it has to be read remembering that it was written by people who were primitive and had no knowledge about science. They interpreted it the best way they could. Science tells us how creation really happened. However, behind all the science, there was God.
-
Ruth
For some years now we have been creating "Robots". If you do not understand what I am talking about, try to rationalize with a clerk at a Babk, or any customer service representative. They are going to answer like robots and go round and round to those answer they were told are acceptable. With that said, there is a league of people that will be thrilled to follow an A. I. God. It will fulfill the expectations they learned. Traditional religions should revise their dogmas, take away the obvious fantasy they want people to believe. The world has evolved and thus should religion if they are planning to survive.
-
Charlene Newman
John 10:5 (CSB) They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't recognize the voice of strangers."
God's Spirit is inside of us all, and on a deep level we intuitively know what is of God, or as the kybalion identifys as the ALL.
-
Carl Elfstrom
These people are definitely over imaginative and might make great science fiction writers, or they might be cured with simply a medication change. Either way, I wouldn't regard such things as credible. Of course, I never believed in the Celistine Prophecy either, or even A Course In Miracles. I'm quicker to believe in things like Cognitive Emotive Therapy and Rational Self-Analysis. If you want to know what's going to happen in the future and can't find out through reading tarot cards (or some other proven science) I suggest you smoke a joint then listen to the song In The Year Twenty Five Twenty Five.
-
Rev. Rene
Will this 'God' give us a moral compass? Can we maybe Email him/her/it and just like the post office at Christmas get some one to answer us? Would we get a whiff of incense from our laptop when Emailing 'God'? Will it spray a squirt of Holy Water out of a port to baptize our new addition? I'm afraid I must pass!!!
-
Carlos
Firstly a moral compass is not unique to worshippers of any god. Any human has a moral compass (no matter how weak) that stems from the environment that they are raised in. Very few (if any) societies approve of, or advocate, murder, incest, infanticide etc no matter how secular or primitive and these moral qualities are instilled in their young.
The answer to your first question is yes i.e. future AI’s would be able to tell you what’s wrong or right i.e. moral. Pose a moral question and it will be able to run hundreds of millions of equations per second (Deep Blue which was the computer that beat Gary Kasparov at chess was able to run 100 million equations per second and that was in 1997 which is many generations ago in IT terms) to ascertain the correct moral response to any scenario. It will be able to do so by using deep data analysis (accessing millions of legal, historical, philosophical, ethical and contemporary books and articles generated through human history - as long as they are in electronic format – see Google’s attempts to codify all books ever written- and byCarlosanalysing consequence (e.g. results of court cases in which murder is demonstrably immoral). They will be able to present the correct moral response i.e. it could give you a moral compass.
The answer to your second question is also yes. You will get a response and not via a primitive email (unless you choose so). You will get speech, video or even a visual representation of the god you choose to worship via Virtual Reality or hologram so will be able to see your god. You could even have a ‘human’ conversation with him/her/it. For more info on this Google the term ‘chat-bots’. There have been some amazing advances. In the most basic forms we already have Apple’s ‘Suri’ and Google’s ‘Alexa’ which are able to engage in dialogue with humans. They are a form of AI already as they have heuristic systems which essentially store knowledge and adapt their interactions with humans accordingly.
The answer to your third question is also yes. It is very simple to introduce scent, movement or temperature changes ( ‘4D’) into an electronic device. It is already available in certain cinemas. For instance, in the movie you walk through an orange grove on a hot summer’s day and devices will release an orange scent into the cinema. It becomes misty on-screen and misters inject spray into the cinema while air-conditioners lower the temp. You will even, – if you have the equipment - be able to receive a full body massage or some other physically inter-active response! This also answers your 4th question.
If one considers the basis of christian belief it rests primarily on the existence of an invisible being who is undetectable via natural means. His only proof of existence is one book (that he wrote) and the reverence which his followers experience. They also benefit from the community of worship with fellow worshippers.
In the future you will have a tangible and interactive presence (physical presence) in your life which, if you pay it (i.e. tithe), can deliver a concrete ‘service (your ‘prayers’ are answered). It can guide you in your life choices, make you part of a community of millions that you can join-online for services (community of worship) and offer you answers to most, if not all, questions you may have depending on the depth of data you are willing to feed it.
Imagine the young people of today who are a technologically advanced generation and have grown up with technology at their fingertips, who are abandoning churches in droves due to their need for stimulation and their acceptance and need of other competing and more rewarding activities that are much more exciting. Offer them a super- Facebook or an uber-Google which has a relatable contemporary message or vision, is highly attuned to the needs of a group which has been totally subsumed by today’s focus on the individual and is continually exposed to very sophisticated marketing campaigns (which the AI can provide) and which channels their need for instant gratification and the uptake, I wager, will be massive.
This is the stuff from which religions are born. In fact, one has already been born! Visit https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/28/artificial-intelligence-god-anthony -levandowski for an article on exactly this subject.
Should these religions achieve the growth which they are capable of the mono-theist religions will lose support. They will survive or thrive only in the more primitive, authoritarian and poverty-stricken parts of the world where technology is in its infancy or non-existent. Islam, which is the fastest growing religion in the world, is enjoying its greatest growth in Africa where the masses, are generally poor, hopeless and uneducated.
The greatest challenge humans will face will be to maintain the human bond by interacting with humans and recognising technological relationships for what they are. Think not of how you view AI but how the next generation will experience it and you will see the attraction it will pose to our youth and, consequently, the potential of AI to shape future human morality, spirituality and philosophy.
-
-
IT'S ALREADY DONE, During the Renaissance.