{"id":5955,"date":"2017-02-04T16:17:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-04T22:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=5955"},"modified":"2017-02-04T16:17:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-04T22:17:03","slug":"do-you-believe-in-the-singularity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/02\/do-you-believe-in-the-singularity.html","title":{"rendered":"Do you believe in the Singularity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ATOPIO_3.jpg;<\/p>\n

According to Wikipedia<\/a>, the (technological) singularity is defined as that moment in the future when \u201cthe invention of artificial superintelligence will abruptly trigger runaway technological growth, resulting in unfathomable changes to human civilization.\u201d \u00a0The more everyday definition of the term, as I\u2019ve seen it used over the past several years, is that point at which a computer\/robot becomes so sophisticated in its programming as to become sentient, to have its own wishes and desires, and to ulimately, because those wishes and desires would be paired with superhuman abilities (whether physical strength or the hyperconnectivity of the internet).<\/p>\n

And The Atlantic yesterday raised a question, \u201cIs AI\u00a0a Threat to Christianity?<\/a>\u201d \u2014 that is, because the rise of AI would challenge\u00a0the idea\u00a0of the soul. \u00a0If an artificial intelligence is sentient, does it have a soul? \u00a0If so, can it be saved?<\/p>\n

Christians have mostly understood the soul to be a uniquely human element, an internal and eternal component that animates our spiritual sides. The notion originates from the creation narrative in the biblical book of Genesis, where God \u201ccreated human beings in God\u2019s own image.\u201d In the story, God forms Adam, the first human, out of dust and breathes life into his nostrils to make him, literally, \u201ca living soul.\u201d Christians believe that all humans since that time similarly possess God\u2019s image and a soul. . . .<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re willing to follow this line of reasoning, theological challenges amass. If artificially intelligent machines have a soul, would they be able to establish a relationship with God? The Bible teaches that Jesus\u2019s death redeemed \u201call things\u201d in creation\u2014from ants to accountants\u2014and made reconciliation with God possible. So did Jesus die for artificial intelligence, too? Can AI be \u201csaved?\u201d . . .<\/p>\n

And what about sin? Christians have traditionally taught that sin prevents divine relationship by somehow creating a barrier between fallible humans and a holy God. Say in the robot future, instead of eradicating humans, the machines decide\u2014or have it hardwired somewhere deep inside them\u2014that never committing evil acts is the ultimate good. Would artificially intelligent beings be better Christians than humans are? And how would this impact the Christian view of human depravity?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But it\u2019s always seemed to me that the issue is more fundamental: it seems to me that the idea of the singularity, of sentient artificial intelligence with its own wishes and desires, is itself a matter of religious faith.<\/p>\n

Fundamental to the idea of the soul is the idea that we have free will, the ability to choose whether to do good or evil. \u00a0Indeed, it seems to me that this is the defining characteristic that makes us human, or makes humans different than the rest of creation around us. \u00a0As I wrote in an old blog post<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Yet consider the case of a lion just having taken over a pride of lionesses, and killing the cubs so as to bring the lionesses into heat, and replace the ousted male\u2019s progeny with his own. Has he sinned? Of course not. It\u2019s preposterous. (I tend to use that word a lot.) But what of a human, say, a man abusing the children of his live-in girlfriend? Do we say, well, that\u2019s just nature for you? No, we jail him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Atlantic author, Jonathan Merritt, posits a scenario in which a robot\/artificially-intelligent being has no ability to sin, because of its programming. \u00a0This certainly seems to be a case in which this creation would not, could not have sufficient free will, decision-making ability, emotions, and desires to be considered a being with a soul.<\/p>\n

But what about the scenario of a truly sinful AI? \u00a0Say, not Data, but Lore, Data\u2019s evil twin in Star Trek<\/em>?<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where it seems to me that, if humans do create a form of AI that is able to make moral decisions, to act in ways that are good or evil, depending on the AI\u2019s own wishes and desires, it would call into question the idea of the soul, of any kind of distinctiveness of humanity. \u00a0It would suggest that our decisions to act in ways that are good or evil are not really decisions made of our own free will, but a matter of our own programming. \u00a0And if a \u201csoul\u201d is really just a matter of immensely sophisticated \u201cprogramming\u201d \u2014 whether biological or technological \u2014 the very notion of the soul continuing after death seems foolish.<\/p>\n

But we speak of \u201cthe singularity\u201d as if it\u2019ll inevitably happen \u2014 it\u2019s only a matter of when. \u00a0And it seems to me that this conviction, that we, or our children, or our children\u2019s children, will live in a world with sentient robots, whether a HAL or a Data, is itself a matter of belief, a religious belief, in which believers hold the conviction that\u00a0advances in technology will mean that in one field after another, the impossible will become possible. \u00a0Sentient artificial life? \u00a0Check. \u00a0Faster-than-light travel to colonize other worlds? \u00a0Check. \u00a0The ability to bring the (cyrogenically-frozen) dead back to life? \u00a0You got it. \u00a0Time travel? \u00a0Sure, why not. \u00a0And, ultimately, the elimination of scarcity and the need to work? \u00a0Coming right up! \u00a0Sure, there is no God in this belief system, except that technology itself becomes a god, not in the metaphorical sense of \u201csomething we worship,\u201d but instead something people hold faith-like convictions in, that shape their worldview.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ATOPIO_3.jpg; By Humanrobo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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