Silicon Dominion

Chapter 1 - Introduction Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most important invention in human history. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, "I've always thought of AI as the most profound technology humanity is working on. More profound than fire or electricity or anything that we've done in the past." Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist, said, “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history." Many people have speculated on the benefits that AI may bring to humanity - things on the scale of ending disease and eliminating poverty. Others express grave concerns about possible dire impacts. Steven Hawking said that success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history, but he also said, "it could also be the last." Hawking was more specific when he added that AI could be the, "worse event in the history of our civilization," and "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." In some ways, AI is simply another technology. In that sense the introduction of AI is like the introduction of the typewriter in 1868. That introduction had an enormous impact on society but some of that impact was positive and some was negative. The same device could be used to document a new life-saving medical procedure and to create ransom demands. AI will follow the same pattern. Some uses will be amazing and beneficial; others will be amazing and deeply damaging. The main difference between AI and other seminal inventions is the scope of the impact. AI is unique in that it has the potential to reshape all aspects of human life. In fact, some people believe that it will overwhelm humanity entirely and thus make humans irrelevant. This potential forces philosophical and theological discussions about the nature and value of humanity. Do humans have intrinsic value? Does it matter if humans are displaced? Why does it matter? Ultimately, the question is, "What makes a human a human?" The answer to that question depends on one's view of the fundamental essence of life. Regardless of the practical implications of AI, it will have an enormous impact in that it forces us to consider the answer to that question. The objective of this book is to provide a non-technical reader with a clear understanding of: 1. What AI is and how it works 2. The potential impact of AI on the world and humanity 3. The motivations that are driving some of the key people in the AI community 4. How AI may play a role in the End Times 5. How Christians should react to the emergence of AI 6. An understanding of intellectual challenges to Christian belief that will be raised by AI and an understanding of Christian responses to those challenges. Chapters 1-6 are oriented toward humanity in general. Chapters 7 - 8 and Appendix A consider these issues from a Christian viewpoint. Chapter 2 presents a brief history of AI, describes what it is, and explains how it works. The discussion of "how it works" is important because there is a major transition going on in the AI community and that transition is being driven by a change in how it works. The internal operational mechanics of AI are presented at a high level - in only enough detail to understand the significance of the current transitions and to understand their potential impact on the world. Most importantly, Chapter 2 introduces the concept of AI as being computer software that "thinks on its own" and explains what that means. It also contrasts AI with the traditional style of software that has been the heart of computer operation for many decades. The book is organized around the concept of the Three Stages of AI development - Existing AI applications can all be thought of as Stage One AI systems. Stage One systems are applications that are designed to work specific problems in specific domains - for example, AI systems that are used to control self-driving cars. These systems are very powerful, and can produce amazing results, but they are targeted toward specific problems. For example, a major study comparing AI-based detection of breast cancer to detection by human radiologists, produced the following results: "The study revealed that the AI group had 20% more cancers detected than the radiologist-only group." These breast cancer detection systems are very effective for their intended purpose, but they would not be useful for detecting lung cancer, even though that is a very similar application. AI has been at Stage One for many years - in fact, for most of its entire history - but Stage Two is rapidly approaching. Stage Two is associated with the concept of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). AGI is the point at which AI reaches a level of intelligence that is equal to human intelligence. Stage Two AI began emerging in the early 2020s. It will be much more intelligent than Stage One, but it will also be much more general. These systems will have knowledge bases that are much larger and that can be applied to a much broader set of problems. Stage Two AI will have a dramatic impact on all aspects of human life across the planet. Stage Three AI Is the AI of the more distant future. It corresponds to Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). ASI is not well defined, especially in terms of exactly how it differs from AGI, but the basic concept is that ASI is the point at which AI capabilities far exceed human intelligence. Many people think of Stage Three as being the point at which AI systems clearly escape from human control. Stage Three is important in that it has the potential to fundamentally restructure life as we know it today, and because some of the motivations for developing Stage Three AI strike at the heart of the question of what it means to be a human. Many of the Stage Three researchers are focused on the idea of creating eternal life