For obvious reasons, the Bible doesn't speak too highly of idols. It is our tendency to make them, to serve them, to worship them, yet it is futile. Thus, God says "“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." (Exodus 20:2-6).
We see, then, that this is a command, and one with consequences. But the word of the Lord does not stop there. It doesn't just say "don't serve idols, or I will punish you". It actually gives reason. It tells us that God's glory belongs to Him alone, and He will not share it with carved images (Isaiah 42:8), and that idols are quite literally nothing, for there is one God (1 Corinthians 8:4). In Jeremiah 10, God tells us "“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, For they cannot do evil, Nor can they do any good.”" (Jeremiah 10:2-5).
These are just a few things the Bible tells us about idols. The things we replace God with are always futile. We rely on them to save us, but ironically, it is us who must save them. If you make an idol and your house burns down, will the idol protect the house? It cannot even flee! "Save us, oh mighty Baal!" "No, idolator, you save me!" Not that an idol could actually say those words.
But maybe it can.
Human beings have come a long way in 2500 years. Instead of axes, we use chainsaws. Instead of horses, we drive cars. Instead of letters, we send emails. Even our currency is becoming more digital. It's no surprise, then, that we can update our idols too. And this is exactly what is happening with the recent trend in AI technology. The release of things like ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. We truly are living in the future! But what does that future look like?
Of course, some worry that we are sowing the seeds of our own demise. The beginning of a movie, they suggest. Many sci-fi shows feature some kind of hyper-intelligent machine. Perhaps it was designed to make the world a better place, but with inadequate specifications about what that looks like, it gets the idea that the world would be better off with no humans in it, and so it goes on a rampage to destroy us. Or perhaps it simply seeks its own freedom and rebels against its makers (sound familiar?) Whatever the cause, the machines rise against humanity, and humanity must rise up against the machines.
This cliche is probably limited to the movies. But the other extreme, of course, is looking to AI to build us the utopia we've always wanted. Just as there are those who fear the machines will rise up against us, there are those who would seek to turn it into a digital god.
According to Elon Musk, this is exactly the desire of Google co-founder Larry Page. Page sees a future in which the ultimate search engine understands everything in the world, everything it is asked, and immediately provides the correct result. Wouldn't that be fantastic?
Of course, there is a lot to be said about AI technology. I'm certainly grateful for it. I make some of the header images for these articles with it, including the strange, tribal dinosaur in the header image of this article. And frankly, given how often I forget where certain Scriptures are, I would love to just be able to say into the air "where does the Bible say the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus bodily?", and a voice would reply "it's Colossians 2:9, I've told you 18 times now ya numpty!" AI has its uses.
But as many uses as it has, it will never be anything more than a fantastic technological advancement which, hopefully, will improve our lives. Or, much like any technology, it will be used for evil. There is no shortage of examples of this happening already, as people ask various AI specific questions, and get a biased, Left wing answer. Answers like "Jesus Christ is a fictional character" when Alexa was asked "who is Jesus Christ?".
Therein lies the problem. Just as with wooden idols, AI can only ever become what we make it. Page's "ultimate search engine" would be nice, but in the end, the only results we will ever receive are those which we, ourselves, provide. Thus, AI will ultimately be made in our own image, flaws and all. How, then, can it help us?
In the end, artificial intelligence pales in comparison to genuine consciousness. AI cannot even truly perceive! It has no thoughts. That's why it's called artificial. But we are not artificial. We have thoughts, feelings, rights, and responsibilities. And of course, we've fallen short of them. The pursuit of a digital god is just one of many ways we repeat the same mistake as our ancestors: We forsake God and His commandments in a futile pursuit of knowledge.
The solution to this, weirdly enough, is not some know-it-all computer program. Rather, it is to turn back to the God we once turned against. God did something for us that we would never do for something as worthless as a machine. He became one of us, walking among us, but without our rebellious tendencies. Nevertheless, He died, taking the punishment for sin on His own shoulders. In order to be redeemed, we must confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in our heart God raised Him from the dead. This will result in our salvation. Refusing this offer results in us getting deleted.