Artificial Idolatry

Whatever we put in the place of God on the throne of our lives, that is an idol to us. No, we may not be crafting statues and bowing down to them, but the attitude of our hearts may certainly reflect a lack of devotion to the Lord. Psalm 135 states:
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.

We must examine our own hearts to see what we are truly worshipping.  By so doing, we can see where we need to surrender to the Lord Jesus and follow Him more wholeheartedly. If we reserve a piece of our heart for someone or something that cannot save or that may be harmful to us, we cannot experience what God has in store for us. We should always exalt Christ and His Word and not allow the world to mute our love for Him.

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We have been brought into a loving relationship with our Heavenly Father through accepting Jesus, His Son, as our Savior. We are called to put away the "idols" that we worship and exalt God and humble ourselves before Him. Paul taught in Galatians 4:
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

Last week, I shared about efforts that attempt to "re-make" Christianity - we are seeing it in China, where the Scriptures are being twisted to exalt that nation's leadership, we see a creed that has been used that puts an LGBT spin on Biblical truth, and a church leader who wants to de-emphasize the emphasis on the fatherhood of God in the Lord's Prayer. 

Now, using artificial intelligence, there is evidence of those who want to re-write the teachings of the Bible.  CBN.com reported recently on a new take on Genesis that does not involve the consumption of animals for food.  The story relates:

The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has used artificial intelligence, namely ChatGPT, to turn the Bible's Book of Genesis into an animal rights religious message "filled with vegan teachings."

The left-wing organization is targeting its new modern version of the book to members of the GenZ generation. PETA is promoting its book as a "cruelty-free Story of Creation."

"The message in Genesis is that God created every sentient being, He saw that they were good, and He gave them greens for sustenance," the organization said on its website.

The president of PETA is quoted as saying, "The Bible has long been used to justify all forms of oppression, so we've used ChatGPT to make it clear that a loving God would never endorse exploitation of or cruelty to animals," adding, "It took God only six days to create the entire world, but we realized it would take us years to rewrite the whole Bible, which is why we've started with just the first book."

Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, declared:

This is an attempt to elevate animals, making them equal with humans. But Genesis does not support this. Animals are not made in God’s image—only people are (Genesis 1:27)—and mankind was given dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:28). This, of course, is not a greedy, overreaching rule that cares nothing for what God has made. Rather it’s a godly dominion that sees us as stewards of what God has made and entrusted to us. But in order for us to be godly stewards, we must maintain the distinction between humans, made in God’s image, and animals.

Ham goes on to say: "Yes, Genesis (like all of the Old Testament) is about God’s faithfulness to make and keep his covenant and promise of the Messiah, despite humanity’s failures. To strip away references to death and sacrifice is to try to erase both the consequences of sin and the only remedy for sin: the blood sacrifice of the perfect Man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 'who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).'"

The CBN article also noted that AI was used in a recent Q&A session with a virtual "Jesus:"

In March, a volunteer group of activists known as The Singularity Group created an AI Jesus on the gaming platform Twitch to answer users' questions, according to NBC News.

The AI, available 24 hours a day via livestream, shares its take on any kind of question imaginable. Still, the bot has said it is merely here to offer "guidance and wisdom based on Jesus' teachings," reminding viewers that he is not an actual religious figure and should not be taken as a source of authority, according to the outlet.

David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at the Family Research Center told the DCNF the avatar is not reflective of who Jesus is in the Bible, and as a result, misrepresents His character to viewers. He noted the danger of putting "moral platitudes into the mouth" of an artificially generated "Jesus."

Another CBN article noted that:

Yuval Noah Harari, known for being a contributor and speaker at the World Economic Forum, is promoting the idea that A.I. will be able to generate a new globally acceptable religious book.

The article goes on to say: 

Harari explained A.I.'s purpose in writing a new Bible during a recent forum called "A.I. & The Future of Humanity."

"It's the first technology ever that can create new ideas. You know, the printing press, radio, television, they broadcast, they spread the ideas created by the human brain, by the human mind," he said.

Harari said A.I. will soon be able to invent new concepts and beliefs that are more socially acceptable than the Bible.

"A.I. can create new ideas; {it} can even write a new Bible," he said, in order to establish unified and "correct" religions.

"Throughout history, religions dreamt about having a book written by a superhuman intelligence, by a non-human entity," Harari explained. Now he believes A.I. will become a new type of god.

No wonder we find that God says to us in the 10 Commandments that we are to have "no other gods" before Him.  In fact, in this case, the AI "god" will be a creation of humanity's technology.  So, in essence, it's another example of man becoming God.  That was the ambition of Adam and Eve as they were tempted by the serpent in the Garden - he promised they would be "like God," and questioned the authority of the word of the one true God.  At Babel, the people wanted to build a tower to the sky.  Their plans to rule and reign were thwarted by Almighty God Himself, because that it His place - He is the Creator, the High and Exalted One.

A.I. has its potential - and its limitations.  Believers in Christ have to know how to use it responsibly.  It can assist us in the gathering and assimilation of knowledge, in harnessing creativity, and in generating or facilitating helpful ideas.  But, because of input that is contrary to the wisdom of God, it can be a destructive force, and become an intoxicating element that can seduce humans who are hungry for power and control.  And, as we see in these example, A.I. can be used to call into question the teachings of God Himself.

We must be careful with technology - and anything else that we place in the position of authority and control over our lives.  Throughout the years, God has called His people out for idolatry, and continues to warn us about those things which will deceive and delude us from faithful service to Him.