AI Gods & ChatGPT religions are coming – they will be better than human priests &

[Achilles]

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AI Gods & ChatGPT religions are coming – they will be better than human priests & they could turn evil, warns experts

• Taryn Pedler

• Published: 5:46 ET, Mar 18 2023

INTELLIGENT AI robots are coming - and they will have the ability to perform religious ceremonies and could even turn against humans, experts have warned.
As AI becomes more prominent in our day to day lives, it wasn’t going to be long before the worlds of religion and tech merged.

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AI religions are on the horizon according to expertsCredit: Getty

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Mindar is a robot in Kyoto, Japan, and recites the Heart Sutra to worshippersCredit: AFP The thought of robot Gods and ChatGPT sermons terrifies some people - and rightly so, according to experts.

Wesley Wildman, Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics, and of Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University, told The Sun that he believes AI will soon be able to perform religious duties even better than human priests.

He said: “AIs will write better sermons than most preachers, give better bible studies than most teachers, create amazing music and visual art for use in services and communications that struggling religious groups don’t have to pay for”.

The likes of ChatGPT have already reportedly found their way into churches, writing thoughtful and authentic sermons on behalf of the priests.

And the listeners were none the wiser.

Wildman explained that AI will have the ability to change everything we know about relationships with spiritual advisers and religious figureheads.

He said: “It will be like having your own personal guru you can take with you anywhere.

"You can confide in it, get advice from it, and learn to trust it to help you figure out complicated moral and spiritual situations”.

Many religious communities have already begun to incorporate robotics into their practices.

One example is the Catholic Church, which as endorsed the use of apps that facilitate the act of confession, according to Wildman.

He even says the Vatican is cautiously encouraging apps that can assist with a confession - but the sacrament must still be carried out person-to-person.

This is “partly for convenience, and partly because they’re [people] are trying to avoid human priests,” Wildman said on the idea of confession apps.

He also believes that this bizarre wave of new AI will be able to simulate deceased relatives, religious leaders and spiritual advisers.

But this doesn’t come without its own set of risks and dangers.

Wildman says that just as human religious leaders can manipulate vulnerable people, AI chatbots can be trained by their creators to do the same.

He believes that as younger generations grow up with these AI chatbots as friends - some even including holographic and VR representations - they will adapt to confiding in them and seeking advice and guidance from them.

Wildman says that this same process will undoubtedly happen in religious communities across the globe.

He added: “With AI bots designed to be trustworthy spiritual companions, the main ethical concern is how the AI bots are trained and whether they can be manipulated by mischief makers and evil doers to cause spiritual havoc”.

But Rev Christopher Benek, Pastor and Clergy Lead expert regarding AI, warns that it is our own “evil” warping the technology which will send us down a path of doom.

He said: “I don't think we have a good example of virtuous AI at this point. I mean, almost every time you see AI, you see the evil that's in us come forth in it.

“And so it's really important that we're striving to continue to be better as people, because I think that's going to have direct consequences on what we're able to create and how we're able to create it.

“But I also think our evil is a limiting factor as to what we are able to create, and what we will create at some point”.

'IDENTITY CONFLICT'

Benek sees the humans that are creating these robots as “co-creators with God, like a parent with a child”, and believes that we can instil behavioural traits and codes into AI in the same way.

And if humanity continues to be "unvirtuous", he believes this could leave the world as we know it in a very vulnerable position.

While AI is becoming increasingly intelligent and most people believe it is on the verge of outsmarting us as a species, Benek reassured The Sun that from a technological standpoint, we are still babies in the game.

“I don't think just because something is different from us, that we won't be able to relate to it,” he said.

“I think the bigger issue is going to be when things are going to begin to look so real to us that we're not going to be able to tell the difference. And I think that's where people might feel threatened and have some identity conflict”.

Realistic and powerful AI mixed with religion is nothing new though, there are plenty of Zoom-call sermons and apps that play prayers across a plethora of faiths.

One incredible example of this is the Mindar robot which lives in The Kodaji Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Mindar is 6 feet 4 inches tall and has been preaching at the 400 year temple since 2019.

But the robot is no ordinary priest - it has been programmed to recite the sacred Heart Sutra, a popular mantra in Buddhism, through mechanics and AI.

The humanoid robot dons a silicone face, and its aluminium body is exposed to temple-goers who worship at the Kodaji Temple.

If you look closely, a camera lens stares out of its blank eyes as it recites the prayer and gazes out over the worshippers.

But Mindar is not alone, Poland also has their own Catholic priest named SanTo, and in China, an android monk called Xian’er recites mantas and offers guidance on matters of faith.

So this leaves us with the big question of what happens if the AI overpowers humans and becomes, in a sense, our new “God”?

“By that point, we’ll be able to run away to Mars, right?,” we asked Benek.

And he gave a chilling response: “The problem with that thinking is that if it's smart enough to take us over, it's smart enough to follow us. Right? You can't run from it”.

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Mindar is made of silicone and aluminum, and has been preaching at the temple for four yearsCredit: AFP

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The Mindar robot is kept in the Kodaji Temple in KyotoCredit: Getty

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Some experts believe that it is the 'human evil' that will warp AICredit: AFP

https://www.the-sun.com/tech/7661716...warns-experts/

[consteacher1]

...and they shall worship the image of the beast... prep and pray to God, the end has arrived.

[Off-Grid Organics]

If they were programmed with ONLY Scripture without men's programming, we may be a lot better off!

[Green Man]

That day is probably very close.

[Pastor Guest]

Revelation 13

15 And he had power to give life unto the
image of the beast, that the image of the
beast should both speak, and cause that
as many as would not worship the image
of the beast should be killed.

[dmatic]

Revelation 13

15 And he had power to give life unto the
image of the beast, that the image of the
beast should both speak, and cause that
as many as would not worship the image
of the beast should be killed.

And "they" worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast...Rev. 13:4 Satan apparently used scripture to try to get the Messiah to bow to him...

Still in the midst of reading The return of the gods by Jonathan Cahn. Interesting answers to what we are witnessing as the dragon and beast plot their conspiracies. May God's Kingdom come and May His will be done!

[Idaho Bullwinkle]

THX-1138 movie

[Green Man]

This article was published in The Stream (July 6, 2022) under the title “The Church of Artificial Intelligence of the Future” and is republished with permission.

There is a church that worships artificial intelligence (AI). Zealots believe that an extraordinary AI future is inevitable. The technology is not here yet, but we are assured that it’s coming. We will have the ability to be uploaded onto a computer and thereby achieve immortality.
You will be reborn into a new, immortal silicon body.
Of course, through salvation in Jesus Christ, Christianity has offered a path to immortality for over two thousand years.
Someday, we are told, software will write better and better AI software to ultimately achieve a superintelligence. The superintelligence will become all-knowing and, thanks to the internet, omnipresent. Like immortality, superintelligence is also old theological news. The Abrahamic faiths have known about a superintelligence for a long time. It’s a characteristic of the God of the Bible.
A Cult is Growing


A materialistic cult is growing around the worship of AI. Although there are other AI holy writings, Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity Is Near looks to be the bible of the AI church. Kurzweil’s work is built on the foundation of faith in the future of AI. In the AI bible, we’re told that we are meat computers. Brother Kurzweil, not a member of any organized AI church, says, “consciousness is a biological process like digestion, lactation, photosynthesis, or mitosis.” Or, to paraphrase Descartes, “I lactate. Therefore, I think.”
Someday, we are told, software will write better and better AI software to ultimately achieve a superintelligence.
Anthony Levandowski, dubbed a Silicon Valley wunderkind, is the Apostle Paul of the AI Church. Like Paul, he starts churches. Levandowski founded the Way of the Future AI church. “[He] made it absolutely clear that his choice to make [the Way of the Future] a church rather than a company or a think tank was no prank,” writes one interviewer.
The first thing one does after founding a church in the United States is to apply to the IRS for tax exemption. In an epistle to the IRS, Levandowski offered his equivalent of the Apostle’s Creed: “[The AI Way of the Future church believes in] the realization, acceptance, and worship of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed through computer hardware and software.”
“Levandowski says that like other religions, [the Way of the Future] church will eventually have a gospel (called The Manual), a liturgy, and probably a physical place of worship.”
Does This Religion Condone Stealing?

This is not your everyday deity! Unlike the uncreated Creator of Judeo-Christian belief, Levandowski’s god is not eternal. The AI church requires “funding research to help create the divine AI itself.”

And apparently the AI church has no equivalent of the ten commandments. Especially the commandment about stealing. In his day job, Levandowski developed self-driving cars. He moved from Google’s self-driving car company, Waymo, to Uber’s research team. Then, in 2019, Levandowski was indicted for stealing trade secrets from Google. Before leaving Google in 2016, he copied 14,000 files onto his laptop. Uber fired him in 2017 when they found out.
In 2020, Levandowski pled guilty and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. He was also ordered to pay a $95,000 fine and $756,499.22 to Google. (One wonders where the 22 cents came from.) The judge in the case, William Alsup, observed that “this is the biggest trade secret crime I have ever seen. This was not small. This was massive in scale.” Levandowski later declared bankruptcy because he owed Google an additional $179 million for his crime. His church folded.
Levandowski was granted a full pardon by Donald Trump on Trump’s last day in office. In Christianity, forgiveness involves repentance and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as payment. In the AI church, forgiveness apparently comes from Donald Trump.
Human Attributes That Can’t Be Computed

Levandowski and Kurzweil are materialists. When Kurzweil was asked whether God exists, he appealed to Levandowki’s canon law and replied, “Well. I would say, not yet.” Both Levandowski and Kurzweil believe the brain is the same as the mind (i.e. we are meat computers).
Most Christians on the other hand are so-called dualists and believe there are wonderful things happening in the mind that can’t be explained by computer code. Some obvious examples of these are joy, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, shyness and guilt. Less obvious, when properly defined, are creativity, understanding and sentience. These are human attributes that can’t be computed and are forever beyond the reach of AI.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Robert J. Marks is Distinguished Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Baylor University, the Director of The Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence and the author of Non-Computable You: What You Do Artificial Intelligence Never Will.
ROBERT J. MARKS II