220: Can AI be used to advance the Kingdom of God?

“Tortured fear and stupid confidence are the preferred states of mind.” That’s a remark from Screwtape, the demon, in C.S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters. He’s advising a younger demon on the mindset that they want to create for human beings. Either a tortured fear of the future, a sense that we’re living in Hell, or a stupid confidence that feels like we’re smart enough to create Heaven. The devil is satisfied with either of those approaches because they’re both different from what God has for us, to walk in the moment in His presence. It seems to me that this comment from Screwtape Letters is applicable to the whole subject of artificial intelligence. Because we live in the tension between those who tell us that it is the greatest thing ever, that we are going to revolutionize mankind verses those who say the machines are coming and the Terminator series will no longer be science fiction, it’s real. The truth is somewhere in the middle. And so we need to talk about artificial intelligence, for one more week, to answer the question, “Can it be used to advance the Kingdom of God?”