AI is Changing Faith
The Non-Prophets 22.30.4 2023-07-26 featuring Kelley Laughlin, Malley O’Sirus, Chris and Scott Dickie
Computer-generated prayer? How AI is changing faith., The Christian Science Monitor, By Ingrid Ahlgren, July 18, 2023
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society...
“In certain parts of the country, I would easily guess that over the next 10 years or so, 15% to 20% will have to close.” said Scott Thumma. He is the research director for Hartford Institute for Religion Research which conducted a national survey of 15,000 religious communities.
Although AI's been around for a long time in in various stages of development, we're seeing it seep into the public arena. It's something that dominates all of our lives, we are are on our devices most of the time, it may seem like something that's just sneaking in but really it's a very dominant thing.
Basically we're seeing the old world colliding with the new world , It is easy to see why church leaders would be concerned about AI for a variety of reasons. The only incentive for them to embrace it is just keep the audience.
It's interesting to see how different churches and different groups react to AI crossing into religion. The big question is where does the holy spirit come into the mix? The holy spirit is supposed to influence the pastor to come up with the message. Then the holy spirit is supposed to convey that message unto the ears of the congregation, and spoon feed it to them.
If AI can do everything that spirituality can it betrays the reality that this is all just psychological manipulation. No more than what can be gained by an algorithm and we're really able to be deceived that easily.
It's funny how a group whose core fundamental beliefs are so antithetical to science have some who are really embracing AI. Chat GPT in and of itself can't help but admit that there's no evidence for a god. So how long is it going to take for AI to start dropping these hints into its sermons?
On the other end of the spectrum we have the group that teach that AI is the devil. A recent conspiracy theory that's really started to spread in the last year or so is that since God made it so the demons could not talk directly to human beings, demons have created AI to talk to humans.
If AI is viewed as a method for demons to communicate with humans, could that be used to explain the burning bush, a talking donkey, or supposed angel sightings in dreams possibly being controlled by demons?
Back in the day the the Catholic Church used to declare it illegal to have a bible that was not in Latin. That was because the they didn't want people accessing the information themselves. They wanted to control what their people did and did not know. But that changed and and now everybody has a Bible and and it didn't ruin their cash cow. Fortunately for them, almost none of them actually read it.
If I was a church person I wouldn't want to test the theory that my God is better than an AI because the AI is going to eventually (if they can't already), come up with a better sermon than messages from an almighty. A Wizard of Oz moment, look behind the curtain and see how puny your god really is.
If you're a churchgoer this is scary, for the rest of us it's fascinating. It depends on which side of the glass you're watching from. If God can't compete with an AI, there you go that's a challenge and a conclusion. Game, set, match. God and batteries not included.
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