Abusing AI: An Asinine Idea

June 24th, 2023

"AI can create new ideas; [it] can even write a new bible." What?!? These words were recently spoken by a senior advisor at a World Economic Forum conference. In today's blog, Brian Miller brings a powerful and pertinent response to this claim and encourages us with the words of God Himself regarding this matter and those like it.

Jaded, I may be, so I wasn’t exactly surprised to hear that World Economic Forum’s (WEF) senior advisor, Yuval Noah Harari, recently uttered the following at a forum called “AI & The Future of Humanity”:

“(Artificial intelligence is) the first technology ever that can create new ideas. You know, the printing press, radio, television, they broadcast, they spread the ideas created by the human brain, by the human mind. They cannot create a new idea,” he said.

“You know, [Johannes] Gutenberg printed the Bible in the middle of the 15th century; the printing press printed as many copies of the Bible as Gutenberg instructed it, but it did not create a single new page. It had no ideas of its own about the Bible: Is it good? Is it bad? How to interpret this? How to interpret that?

AI can create new ideas; [it] can even write a new bible.”

Cue the globalists’ giddy dream: a progressive, inclusive, utopian society, free from the scourge and authority of Judeo-Christianity. Of course, everyone would be in lockstep following a feel-good one-world religion to go along with their chosen economic system. All they need now is a charismatic leader to orchestrate it all.

And forgive me if I don’t buy into AI coming up with new ideas; I’m pretty sure it is relying on the ideas of the men who designed it and inputted the information it relies on, so I would surmise that it is simply regurgitating the ideas of men and the spiritual forces guiding them.

Seems like I’ve read that story. It doesn’t turn out how they think it will.

Harari expanded on that impious idea.

“Throughout history, religions dreamt about having a book written by a superhuman intelligence, by a non-human entity. In a few years, there might be religions that are actually correct … just think about a religion whose holy book is written by an AI. That could be a reality in a few years.”

There are a number of reactions to these blasphemous statements, besides the obvious fact that followers of Jesus Christ believe that the Bible is just that, written by a non-human super intellect, the Creator Himself, just as it claims.

And forgive me if I don’t buy into AI coming up with new ideas; I’m pretty sure it is relying on the ideas of the men who designed it and inputted the information it relies on, so I would surmise that it is simply regurgitating the ideas of men and the spiritual forces guiding them. But I digress. That’s not necessarily pertinent.

What is pertinent, however, is the clear word to the wise in Revelation 22:18–19 ESV: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book:

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Those chilling words don’t seem to daunt Harari at all, who has ridiculed the Bible, calling it the ancient precursor to “fake news.” After all, he has already disregarded the evidence for the Resurrection, the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies that prove the Bible is divinely inspired, the fact that archaeology repeatedly affirms the biblical account, the ontological argument, the fine-tuning argument, and so on.

Indeed, the very creation that surrounds us condemns not only Harari’s conscience but all those who deny God’s existence and authority:

Romans 1:20 ESV
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

As I discussed this topic with my wife, she said, “The Tower of Babel. The first thing I thought of was the Tower of Babel. They believed they would become like gods then. That’s exactly what these people think now.”

Whether those individuals that participated in the Tower of Babel construction project were in rebellion against their Maker or simply conned by the cult of personality or even coerced, so it will be in the last days. Some will knowingly rebel against their Creator. Others will be conned or simply go with the flow down the broad way that leads to destruction. Still, others will be coerced to follow the Son of Perdition, and many will be martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Behind it all―remember, Paul warns us in Ephesians 6:12 ESV, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”―is the enemy, the Deceiver. It’s implicit (not dogmatic) that he was behind the first world dictator, Nimrod, and the building of the Tower of Babel, and it is written that he will be the controlling force behind the man we have come to know as the Antichrist, though John never explicitly refers to him as that in Revelation. He’ll be Satan’s avatar, regurgitating the same lie first told in the Bible and one that has echoed throughout all the false teachings of history: “You shall be as gods.”

I guess that’s the first thing I thought of when I heard this story. That first pervasive lie that Satan told Eve. It’s the lie that continues to corrupt and degrade a society that is increasingly hostile to the true Jesus Christ and His followers. If you pay even the least amount of attention, you are aware that everything God declares in Genesis is under brutal assault by this present world. God created the world in six days, just as He said in Genesis and affirmed on Mount Sinai in Exodus. He created everything “after its kind.” Man is created in the image of God, “Male and female created He them.” Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman. I could go on. If God said it, Satan opposes it.

P.T. Barnum had it right when he adroitly summed up an innate part of the human condition, “The common man, no matter how sharp and tough, actually enjoys having the wool pulled over his eyes, and makes it easier for the puller.”

It all goes back to the Big Lie, if I can call it that, and man, in his pride and arrogance, has swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker. P.T. Barnum had it right when he adroitly summed up an innate part of the human condition, “The common man, no matter how sharp and tough, actually enjoys having the wool pulled over his eyes, and makes it easier for the puller.”

Man has been willingly duped by the seductive promise of godhood since the Garden of Eden, and his laughable idea that AI can rewrite the Bible or that “In a few years, there might be religions that are actually correct.” is basically the gesture angry drivers make to the guy who cut them off, except it’s directed at the Creator. A passage, Psalm 2:1–6 ESV, says what God thinks of such actions.

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Man’s utopian dreams, his pipe dream ascent to godhood, his rebellion against the Most High―and this plan to rewrite the Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, which He preserves through all ages―will be crushed in judgment at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As believers, we know how the story ends.

In the meantime, in this time of increasing knowledge (see Daniel 12:4), which we can take AI to be one of the signs of, how are we as believers to react to the oncoming deception?

First and foremost, we need to stand on the authority of the Scripture―all of it, which is good for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (I Timothy 3:16). It is a book that is living and active and will forever stand the test of time, and here are some encouraging reminders about that.

Matthew 24:35 ESV
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Matthew 5:18 ESV
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

1 Peter 1:23 KJV
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Philippians 1:6 ESV
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

I hope you are as encouraged by these verses as I was in looking them up. As humanity hurtles towards its certain future, man will continue to search for answers within himself, to decide for himself Pilate’s famous line: “What is truth?”

Thankfully, in John 8:32, we are promised: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

We can pray that others, like Mr. Harari, come to the Truth, the only One who can set them free from the chains of darkness of this present world.

Author Bio:
Brian Miller is a longtime newspaper columnist and freelance writer. He and his wife Bethany, a fellow “preacher’s kid” (and talented musician and chef), split their time between Eveleth, MN, and South Padre Island, TX. Brian seeks to use lessons learned in his life of God’s unchanging love, grace, mercy, and faithfulness to bring hope to others who may be struggling. The Millers are working towards setting up an as-yet-unnamed non-profit and appreciate your prayers. You may write to him at bd1976@pm.me.