AI: Trojan Horse OR Modern Printing Press?

Sitting in his Spanway Washington home, William "Que" Moffett spends a lot of time pondering the deeper things of life... his hope is to undertake that weighty effort always through the lens of his faith in the One true God of scripture.

In his lifetime he has seen the advent of many new technologies and art-forms. Video games. Computers. The internet. Hip-hop. Perhaps most recently though is Artificial Intelligence.

There is much debate about AI and the risks versus merits of this advanced development. Particularly amidst Christian circles. Many are skeptical of computers with the ability to think for themselves and influence the minds of living breathing humans. For some it invokes images of the Terminator franchise signaling an Apocalyptic and fiery finale to humanity. Others see dramatic advancements in productivity and the development of revolutionary breakthroughs in numerous fields including medicine, academics, public safety, and more.

Que has a slightly more pragmatic view of AI. As a computer Engineer he has reached the conclusion that whether we like it or not, AI is here. It will either be used for good... or for evil.

So... why not get in front of it and show people it can be used to honor God? After all, if even the rocks can cry out declaring His glory... if he can use a donkey to speak truth... why would AI be an exception?

Que once recounted to me the impact the allegory present in the Matrix films had on him. He imagined a scene in which Morpheus speaks with a program named Jake, who asks Morpheus to show him the truth. Morpheus explains things to Jake whose eyes are now opened... Although Jake is a program and can not escape the Matrix he can now help lead people to escape.

Imagine if a program could help real people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

One of the interesting things to me about the most common objections to AI is that there are so many parallels between it and other things that Christians don't seem to take issue with. I imagine how many of the people who rail against AI regularly use calculators, SIRI, Alexa, or other automated systems. I wonder how many people who associate AI with a demonic persona of some sort sit in their living rooms regularly and watch fantasy shows and films like the Narnia franchise or The Lord Of The Rings... It requires a certain level of cognitive dissonance to be comfortable with one while indignant about the other.

Enter Jake Sevin, Suzy Suno, Foresight, DJ AI Symbol, & Shardea Suno. Que has carefully crafted an entire label of AI artists who are attempting to point human beings to Jesus. The fact that they themselves are not real humans with souls doesn't prevent God from using them anymore than real people with heavily manicured images (who aren't always necessarily authentic) or fictional Christian characters on a show or movie.

If God can be used by media where creative liberties are taken with actual biblical events it's puzzling to conclude he can't use fictional characters who make music.

Perhaps, instead of worrying about if they are "real" we should test the Spirits by judging their merit against the words & example of scripture... just like we should do with "real" people?

-eCsiLe

P.S. To listen to Jake & the others check out the links below: