Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage.
And why not? Here’s evidence that we humans have exceeded ourselves – we can even get machines to do our thinking for us! They used to do robotic stuff like cleaning and vacuuming (and checking if we are humans, not robots) or simple but boring calculations in mere seconds. Or something superlative like the Global Positioning System (GPS) - it’s amazing how it recalibrates in no time even when we do not follow its exact instructions. Who else could come up with complete alternatives so quickly?
If you haven’t felt the least worried about AI, maybe you should.
Typically, those who entertain their fears experience some disquiet even as they wonder: Will it do more harm than good? Will it get out of hand? How much damage can it cause? Chief of these concerns appears to be: Will there be job loss? Some loss looks inevitable as AI works without ever becoming weary or bored. What’s more, it gets smarter and better by the day. Hopefully, the people who create AI have it on a leash. Hopefully. Which allows us to look at the other side.
We take our cue from someone like Carlos E. Perez who asked and answered his own question, “Do you know what’s more dangerous than artificial intelligence? Natural stupidity.” You don’t say!
So, all this while, we’ve been overly-concerned about AI running loose, turning rogue and biting the hand that feeds it. It’s really the flipside that is tricky. Let’s give some attention to Natural Stupidity (NS), also known as Innate Foolishness (IF). He who thinks he is wise may actually be the foolish one. In this Sufi story, guess who’s really the naive one?
“Nasruddin used to stand in the street on the market days; several times people would offer him a large and a small coin to choose from, and he would invariably pick the smaller one. One day a kind gentleman said to him, ‘Nasruddin, you should take the bigger coin. Then you will have more money, and people will no longer laugh at you.’
‘You are correct,’ said Nasruddin, ‘but if I start choosing the larger coin, people will stop offering me money to prove that I am more idiotic than they are.’”
“Forget artificial intelligence,“ says Tom Chatfield, “in the brave new world of big data, it’s artificial idiocy we should be looking out for.” And so we will. Not only in science and technology, or commerce and business but in the spiritual realm as well: Innate Foolishness (IF) has to be contended with.
The Bible contains wisdom. It also showcases foolishness (beyond mere stupidity). Most of us are familiar with Psalms 14:1a, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Or, as a preacher once translated, “No God for me”.
Essentially, Foolishness is not ignorance but a deliberate defiance and disobedience. GotQuestions curated some Bible verses to marshal a formidable case for our consideration.
“Foolishness is the result of a person misusing the intelligence God has given him. A fool uses his reasoning skills to make wrong decisions. The most basic type of foolishness is denying God’s existence or saying “no” to God (Ps 14:1). The Bible associates folly with a quick temper (Prov 14:16–17), perverse speech (Prov 19:1), and disobedience to parents (Prov 15:5). We are born with an innate foolishness, but discipline will help train us in wisdom (Prov 22:15).
Proverbs 19:3 says that foolishness is counterproductive: ‘When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.’ Jesus in Mark 7:22 uses a word which means “senselessness” and is translated “folly.” In that context Jesus describes what comes out of the heart of man and defiles him. Foolishness is one of the evidence that man has a defiled, sinful nature. Proverbs 24:9 says, ‘The devising of folly is sin,.’ Foolishness, then, is really the breaking of God’s law, for sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4).
“To the fool, God’s way is foolishness. ‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,.’ (1 Cor 1:18; cf. verse 23). The gospel seems to be foolish to the unsaved because it doesn’t make sense to them. The fool is completely out of phase with God’s wisdom. The gospel goes against the unbeliever’s native intelligence and reason, yet ‘, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach[a] to save those who believe. (1 Cor 1:21).”
Be concerned about Artificial Intelligence. Avoid the foolishness of ignoring God. Embrace and treasure God’s wisdom and His ways. How’s that for true intelligence?
What's inside this latest issue?
VOL. 48 NO. 5 of IMPACT Magazine
AI: THE PROMETHEAN DILEMMA OF THE 21st CENTURY?
By Samuel T S Goh
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE BIBLE... Crises or Opportunity? By Corné Bekker
THOUGHS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
By Robert Solomon
INTELLIGENCE ROBOTS AND THE FUTURE OF WARFARE. By Roland Chia
AI: INTELLIGENCE WITHOUT WISDOM?
By Darius Lee
CAN SOMETHING SO GOOD TURN OUT SO THREATENING?
~ The Impact Panel responds ~
THE DEMISE OF INTEGRITY... A Sign of Decline. By John Carpenter
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN PRINCESS... Daughter of World Vision's Founder issues Warning.
~ An interview with Marilee Pierce Dunker ~
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