The AI Apocalypse?

 AI has certainly been making headlines lately, as have the predications of a dawning utopia or impending robotic apocalypse resulting therefrom, but no matter how terrifying or exciting, one must remember that AI, like fire or electricity or anything else is a tool, while it may revolutionize the way we live, do business, and communicate, and if implemented hastily or in a foolish manner may have drastic and unforeseen consequences, but it is still a tool.  Genetic modification is also a tool and with it we can feed billions or create a monster virus that can wipe out a civilization.  It is what we do with it and why that makes all the difference.

In one of the Star Wars prequels, Obi-wan says, "if droids could think there would be none of us here."  And I've always loved that line, so simple yet so profound.  Yes our tech can 'learn' and 'know' and 'do' all sorts of neat stuff, much of it yet undreamt, but it can't think, create, or give meaning to anything.  Our Creator made us in His image and breathed into us life, and being, and purpose.  But a computer can no more appreciate a rainbow or a sunset or a sonata than your pet goldfish or sofa.  We can't create that for ourselves, how much less for our tech?  It had to be created in us by an outside source, we are incapable of passing it on to our own creations or creating it out of nothing.  No matter how amazing, AI will never produce real art.

Yes, it can produce amazing images, I've just been playing with it, but it requires human input to create those images, human taste to select and manipulate the images, and a human eye to appreciate the final product.  My camera can produce great images but it requires me to select the content of said image.  The camera doesn't care what image it produces, but I do.  The AI image generator produced some rather good and some rather grotesque and some completely baffling images.  I needed to change my prompts or edit the resulting image or change the filters and parameters to get what I wanted, it meant nothing to the computer.

Can we use AI for terrible things, yes!  As we can fire or money or nuclear weapons.  No matter how much our tech changes, our hearts do not nor does what it means to be human.  Yes, tech may get really good at solving medical problems or doing your taxes or whatever but it will never replace humanity, instead it is meant to serve humanity, but it will only be as beneficial as the purposes and intent of those overseeing it.  Will it change things, certainly, but will it replace us, no!  Should we use it wisely, by all means.  Will we?  If history is any indicator, I wouldn't bet on it.  Should we despair?  Certainly not, for the same One who bequeathed us our own intelligence still oversees our world and lives and has a plan and a purpose in all things.  We can certainly make robots in our own image but we'd be far wiser taking very seriously the commands of our own Designer, in this as well as in all things!  There may not ever be an AI apocalypse but we most certainly know the tale of this world will one day be at an end and then we must each give an account of our lives to the Author, so maybe that's the apocalypse we should be most concerned about, at least if we aren't currently His!