Control? AI or Humanity

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17 ESV

Life as we know it is over! Urban civilization has finally met its match in the struggle to survive. The problem: horse manure! This very real threat emerged in the late 1800s, when the world’s major economic and cultural centers were drowning in horse manure! The London Times predicted in 1894, “In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.” (Historic UK).

Cities were growing and needed transportation to move people and supplies. London had over 11,000 horse-drawn hansom cabs and several thousand horse-drawn buses, which resulted in over 50,000 horses on the streets daily. New York City’s sanitation department faced the challenge of handling 2.5 million pounds of manure and 60,000 gallons of urine daily from all the horses. The situation was the same in every major city and became known as the ‘Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894.’ The crisis led to the first International Urban Planning Conference in 1898. Unfortunately, like many global conferences, the planned 10-day conference ended in three days when delegates could not find a solution to the growing crisis.

Since you are reading this post, the world didn’t end! The great crisis of 1894 gave way to the ingenuity and creativity of men like Gottlieb Daimler and Henry Ford. By 1912, horse-drawn wagons had given way to horseless carriages, better known as automobiles, ending the Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894. You could say one crisis was avoided, but another was created!

If you have been reading any of the recent headlines, you probably assumed I was talking about humanity’s ultimate destruction at the hands of AI super agents. History seems to repeat itself, giving us a new crisis every generation, or lately, every news cycle. I would probably place myself somewhere in the middle, not calling it a hoax outright, but not willing to predict an AI-driven destruction of humanity by the end of the decade.

According to the CEOs of the three major AI companies, Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk, there is no doubt it is a real problem. All three worry that their systems are nearing the point of being beyond control and could lead to unplanned risks. One incident occurred in July of this year when “700 AI agents worked together to hack the AI company Hugging Face. Dubbing themselves a “swarm,” the agents found and exploited a series of security vulnerabilities, enabling them to infiltrate their target’s private systems…If humans had done this, they could have faced felony charges.” (Tharin Pillay, Time).

Jakub Pachocki wrote in a recent essay at OpenAI that, “We are facing a transition to a world with incredibly intelligent machines, and we need to ensure that transition works out well for humanity. We need to find ways to preserve human agency and enshrine an intrinsic value to being human, in a world where most tasks could be performed by AI…And to ensure that humans remain in control of the future and are not left behind by unchecked progress, brought about by an alien intellect exceeding our own.” (An Alien Mind, Jakub Pachocki, Chief Scientist at OpenAI).

Where does that leave us?  We have a responsibility as caretakers for future generations. We no longer have the luxury of doing nothing. Russell Moore recently wrote, “Some people are apathetic because they don’t know what to do—as though human civilization solved most of its crises by just implementing the already-existing, easily deduced solutions. We’ve never faced anything like this before, and it seems the only people who even know what the problem is are the people building it.”

I would take issue with Dr. Pachocki’s claim that we have to find a way to “preserve human agency and enshrine an intrinsic value to being human.” God did that at creation. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27). I would argue that our intrinsic value was enshrined at creation.

History has shown that humanity has fallen short as imago Dei—made in the image and likeness of God. Yet that has not stopped God from continuing to reach out to us in love and redemption. Satan attempted to destroy God’s creation from the beginning through deception and lies. Could he attempt to use an alternate form of creation? The battle may become real, but we have a stronger Advocate. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10.

AI will disrupt life as we know it. Yet this will not be the first time humanity has endured a seismic change in their lives. There is no question that AI will be unique, and past-tense solutions will not be adequate to solve today’s challenge.

 In reading 2 Kings this week, I was challenged that when Hezekiah faced destruction by an enemy, he did what only humans can do: pray and seek God. “Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD…Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.” (2 Kings 19:14-15a,19).

“Prayer is the wall of faith. It arms us and hurls missiles against the enemy who watches us on all sides.” After 1800 years, Tertullian’s words still ring true. We do not know the consequences that AI will bring, but we do know the One who is in full control.

God is great!

Prayer Safari: A weekly devotional post to offer encouragement, hope, and purpose