Artificial Intelligence and the Antichrist
Rev 13:11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.
Rev. 13:12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
Rev. 13:13 And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
Re 13:14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
Rev. 13:15 And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Rev. 13:12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
Rev. 13:13 And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
Re 13:14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
Rev. 13:15 And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
I read an article on CNN the other day about Jack Ma the billionaire owner of Alibaba (Chinese version of Amazon). (Link at the end of post.) In that article is this quote: "Like many billionaire tech founders, Jack Ma is a futurist. He predicts robots will eventually replace some the world's leading CEOs and believes artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the world." (End quote)
While some of the West's leading tech entrepreneurs are vociferously warning of the danger of AI, China's Ma seems to be embracing it. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is quoted as saying, artificial intelligence ""could spell the end of the human race." Tesla's Elon Musk has said that AI is our biggest existential threat.
All this talk of AI got me thinking about the possible connection between it and Revelation 13. In the text cited above the evil ruler called the Antichrist has a henchman, whom most give the name of the false prophet. This henchman seems to have the job description of publicist for the antichrist, with a particularly evil twist, if you don't worship (bow down?) to the antichrist or his image he will have you killed. Of particular note for today is the fact he makes an image (representation? Robot?) of the antichrist and somehow causes it to come to life. The Greek text says he gives breath to the image.
We have to factor in the Apostle John's complete lack of a point of reference for understanding the technologies that would one day exist, and that he was trying to describe. I'm guessing, but could he be describing a robot that seemingly comes to life? It is interesting that he (false prophet) doesn't make the image himself, but he demands the people who dwell on the earth to make the image. Strange wording, huh? It almost sounds like the text is distinguishing between those who dwell on the earth and the false prophet and the antichrist, as if they are other worldly. (Aliens? I can't believe I just suggested that!) It could of course be simply a biblical euphemism for people who are of the world as opposed to those who are not of this world, ...the Christians.
The Japanese a have a robot maker who is perhaps the world leader in life like robots. Hiroshi Ishiguro is one of the most acclaimed builders of life like robots in the world. (See link below for an amazing short video on a robot he made to look just like himself) Granted these technologies are still in their infancy, but the advances of self-driving cars should show just how fast these technologies can advance quickly.
I could be like a thousand other would be interpreters of the book of Revelation, - completely wrong. I've just had a few things come across my research in the last few days that have made me think, "hmm". When looking at the book of Revelation I try to keep my wits about me and remind myself of the words of Christian rock group Petra. Poking fun at Christians getting freaked out about backward masking (secret messages that could only be heard when you played a song backwards) they did some backwards masking themselves in their song, "Judas' kiss, the message - "What are you looking for the devil for when you should be looking for the Lord." (Link below). I think the bible is clear that believers when they see these things come to past should be looking up, not looking for the antichrist. That bit of proper focus noted, there are still some things that make me say, "hmmm."
Keep your fire burning.
...Update while getting ready to post this blog I decided to do a google search on AI and the antichrist and came across the following: https://aiantichrist.blogspot.com/ that is a link to a guy who has researched and found out a group of atheists have founded a religion here is a short quote from his blog: "As Wired reported recently, Anthony Levandowski, a top Silicon Valley engineer formerly working for Google's self-driving car company Waymo and now at the center of the trade secrets lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, founded a religious organization called Way of the Future. Its goal? To "develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence."
Interesting. Makes me do a double "hmmm."
Jack Ma: http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/11/technology/alibaba-billion-investment-united-s "could spell the end of the human race."
Hiroshi Ishiguro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WijMCSfX0RA
Petra, Judas' kiss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MFFgbKwGhQ
Jack Ma: http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/11/technology/alibaba-billion-investment-united-s "could spell the end of the human race."
Hiroshi Ishiguro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WijMCSfX0RA
Petra, Judas' kiss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MFFgbKwGhQ
come to past should be looking up, not looking for the antichrist. That bit of proper focus noted, there are still some things that make me say, "hmmm."
come to past should be looking up, not looking for the antichrist. That bit of proper focus noted, there are still some things that make me say, "hmmm."
Keep your fire burning.