In 1954, science fiction writer Fredric Brown, in his short story “The Answer,” associated the technological singularity with the construction of a “galactic supercomputer.” When it was turned on for the first time, the first question put to it was: “Is there a God?”; to which the supercomputer replied: “There is now.”
On the subject of the deification of the artificial, the Vatican note “Antiqua et Nova” declares, “As society moves away from connection with the transcendent, some are tempted to turn to AI in search of meaning or fulfillment, desires that can find their true satisfaction only in communion with God. (…) it must be remembered that AI is but a pale reflection of humanity, being produced by human minds, trained using material produced by human beings, predisposed to human stimuli and sustained by human labor. It cannot have many of the capabilities that are specific to human life, and it is also fallible. Therefore, by seeking in it a greater “Other” with whom to share its existence and responsibility, humanity risks creating a substitute for God. Ultimately, it is not the AI that is deified and worshipped, but the human being, becoming in this way a slave to his own work.” The idea of slavery returns in this context, in an inverted and paradoxical form: not the machine enslaved by man, but man enslaved by the machine he himself created. Yet, the first words attributed in the Bible to “God’s writing, engraved on tablets,” in the first commandment, describe man’s deliverance, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.” He continues further, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down before them or serve them.”
The message is clear: although it is tempting to do so, man should not worship or serve what he has created with his own hands, be it an idol or artificial intelligence. Liberation from slavery and man’s autonomy from what he has artificially produced are principles that have been expressed and remained relevant for three thousand years.
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