A few days ago I wrote around the subject of ‘is there a God?’ and of course an all-powerful God who could stop it and doesn’t has always been the big question that theologians and philosophers have sought to answer. I take a different approach, with God BEING love becoming the one qualifier to everything, and the real question is ‘does humanity exist?’, or if we made that phrase a little fuller, does humanity as a) defined by Genesis and b) exemplified and incarnated in Jesus exist?
I am a theist, I believe that humanity needs a regeneration (and that is much more than my hand went up and I prayed a prayer that someone made up for me and I was ‘declared’ born again!). Is there a new humanity?
In a dream last night I was present with a number of people I know who are on the more conservative end of the evangelical charismatic world. Their desire was to talk about the rights and wrongs of certain behaviours and where we need to draw the lines and what we need to do to ensure that we helped people be on the ‘right’ side of that line. I said by the time you have worked that out, the world we live in will have moved on… the challenge is always about a new humanity, a humanity in the image of Jesus, being transformed by the power of the Spirit.
AI – artificial intelligence… should have been around in my day when I was studying. Hand-written essays (could anyone even read them to grade them?). Imagine with a bit of AI help how smart I could be? In the dream I said the challenge is for a new humanity because within a very short period of time a new humanity is going to appear. I told them I read in the 1970s Os Guinness quoting someone about the atomic bomb – we can make it so we must make it. This is where we are at right now. I have never read anything on AI but a quick google search kicks up a very recent book ‘The Singularity is nearer’ predicting the merging of humanity with AI. I have no doubt within a few years we will have on planet earth the beginnings of a new humanity – not defined by Genesis nor the new humanity of Jesus, but defined by we can evolve so we must evolve.
Laying on one side the obvious advantages of a measure of AI (or any kind of ‘Intelligence’) to certain people who dominate the media there is a very deep challenge in and through all of this to those who claim to have been touched by the transcendent God of heaven. We always live in the context of ‘Babel / Babylon’ with the desire to make a mark for oneself, to raise a tower to heaven, to see, desire and consume – and the ‘singularity’ push is no different.
Perhaps God will in some way intervene (the story of Babel), perhaps there will be a catclymic parousia, perhaps, perhaps, but if not the call of the universe is still there – ‘is there a humanity?’
The existence of God is a big philosophical question. The existence of humanity is a question that needs responding to. Increased intelligence could help, but the level of help we need is so beyond intelligence. Life is never without a challenge and the move toward ‘singularity’ simply helps us focus on how we need to respond. In this context the next 15 or so years will be so important. By all means debate ‘is there a God’ but we have to understand the closeness of relationship between God and humanity – God is not a big human, for sure, but creation is looking for something from us.
I wonder where that leaves us in terms of our humanity and our salvation if we are part machine? Is that like the hybrid beings talked about in Genesis maybe that weren’t acceptable to God? Do we forfeit our souls if we merge with AI? Big questions? It’s like when the serpent said to Adam and Eve you could become like God if you eat of the tree? If AI means we can be uploaded for ever onto a database or into a robot what happens to our souls? You are right the battle is for the future of true humanity made in the image of God – untainted and only immortal in the age to come. Such an interesting dream Martin? We are obsessed with the wrong things as Christians for sure . We also have Christian Nationalism and cultural Christianity trying to replace true faith in Jesus too big challenges? It’s really just a front legitimising prejudice and suspicion of Muslims and Islam as far as I can deduce. Again a battle for humanity as one group are dehumanising another. Such interesting topic!
Your questions, Joanna!!! Those are the questions. Talk about uncharted territory for us all. I think though from the dream the persistent and lasting question is that of will a true humanity emerge… one that is shaped from, by and in response to Jesus. I take great heart from every cup of cold water given in the name of Jesus contributes to the future. Oh yes!!