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-Dr Rosemary Varghese
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. -Genesis 1:28
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics went to two brilliant professors for their unparalleled research in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI)—Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield. Hinton’s work was much in demand as leading global conglomerates pitched their bids to the highest possible levels to get him on board. After a short stint at Google, he quit his job, and has, since then, been trying to help people understand the harmful consequences of the monster he had inadvertently released through his hard work. In no unclear terms, he has expressed deep concern that the technology he developed could surpass human intelligence. He believes that AI systems can modify their own computer code, and this removes them from the span of human control. It would make humans less intelligent than the AI systems they created, as a result of which they would be susceptible to the ultimate threat of human extinction, or x-risk, as it is commonly termed.
The situation we face is deadly serious and unreasonably funny at the same time. On the one hand we are discussing the possibility of human extinction and, on the other, we are investing our brainpower and research into fashioning the instrument that will ultimately do the job with a perfection beyond human capability. This reminds me of a short story by the famous novelist E.M. Forster, written more than a century ago titled ‘The Machine Stops.” The narrative builds on the lines of a piece of science fiction that depicts a society that is totally under the control of a machine. Vashti and her son Kuno are the main protagonists in the story. They live in separate self-contained cells in an era where all human habitation has shifted underground. Every need is controlled and catered to by what is reverently referred to as The Machine The story centres around Kuno who tries to break free from this manmade prison of luxury to reach the outer world and experience the warmth of the sun and the starlit sky. He faces the ultimate punishment of death meted out by the Machine to traitors who stray beyond the boundaries set by it. Kuno tries to explain the reality of their sad plight to his mother, his desperation evident in his words—" We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now. It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense of touch, it has blurred every human relation and narrowed down love to a carnal act, it has paralysed our bodies and our wills, and now it compels us to worship it.” His mother refuses to accept this. fearing that she may be found disloyal to this omnipotent Machine God.
When we get to this part, we experience a sense of unease. Forster’s story seems to have come too close to reality for comfort. Are we speeding towards a point of no return, towards a destination that culminates in sacrificing ourselves at the altar of the algorithms and programmes we have painstakingly created? Are we working hard to create a Machine God which will ultimately control us or kill us?
Undoubtedly, AI has become the most significant gamechanger in technological development and medical science, and its benefits have been widely acclaimed and acknowledged. However, its potential is unimaginable, and its uncontrolled development needs to be viewed seriously. Some of the consequences of this have already caught up with us, in terms of large-scale reduction in human resource requirement across corporate workplaces. We have no control over our personal space— AI has invaded our privacy without permission. We can no longer distinguish between fake representations and reality. We are already in the backseat.
In its present state of unbridled development, the race for the top position in the AI arena is in full throttle, where each competing entity is fuelled by the quest for this power that transcends human capability. At present, the promoters of AI benefit from developing robots and chatbots for different applications, many of which aim to replace human systems like reproduction and childbirth. Robots are being programmed to take over this function in order to allow for manipulation of human genomic systems. Forster prophetically speaks of this during the course of his story, as he traces back the history of how this monster machine came into existence. The master brains who developed it perished, and those who came later never fully understood it. Forster explains it as follows—" Humanity, in its desire for comfort, had over-reached itself. It had exploited the riches of nature too far. Quietly and complacently, it was sinking into decadence, and progress had come to mean the progress of the Machine.” Are we at the brink of converting Forster’s fiction into reality?
The Bible warns us to be watchful of the ‘signs of the times,’ and we would have to be spiritually blind not to recognize what these developments mean with regard to our relationship with our Creator. Biblical history is rife with incidents where angels and mortals have fallen from grace due to their pride and ambition. Lucifer heads the list followed by Adam and Eve. The tower of Babel tells us a similar story. And the cycle has repeated itself over time with the same results.
Over the last few decades, the forces of evil seem to have found a voice among the people, and their actions are no longer covert and secretive. Their focus has moved from God the Son and His teachings, to God the Father our Creator. Genesis 1:27-28 speaks of the sixth day of creation:
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky
and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
God created mankind in His own image. He created them as male and female. His first blessing to them was to increase and fill the earth. He made them the masters of everything on earth. Present day movements like transgenderism and pro-choice are laying the foundation for another Tower of Babel. Added to this, mankind is on the verge of creating another master, the AI powered monster machine—one that is more intelligent than its creator, one that is all set to subdue its creator and annihilate his very existence. We know this from none other than the Godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton. The century-old story by Forster serves as a prophetic warning to us. We know what results when raw pride and ambition dare to challenge God’s plans for mankind. As always, Gods justice will prevail in the end. May His mercy be upon us and save us from subjugation and extinction at the hands of the monster machine—our very own baby!
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