Artificial Intelligence

Wikipedia reports “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines”. AI tells of “the formation of our universe and the evolutionary events which created life as we know it.”.

But hear what God says,

“I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”        Isa 45:12
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.                                     Artificial Intelligence

We emphasise, AI is not truly intelligent, but rather, it is well-designed to perform specific tasks within a set of man-made rules. AI lacks the ability to think independently, and understand the nuances of human speech and behaviour.

Professor Crawford has published a number of scientific books on her subject area. Her latest book, “Atlas of AI,” was published by Yale University Press in May 2021, and has been described as “timely and urgent” by Science.

”AI is made from vast amounts of natural resources, fuel, and human labour. And it’s not intelligent in any kind of human intelligence way. It’s not able to discern things without extensive human training, and it has a completely different statistical logic for how meaning is made. Since the very beginning of AI back in 1956, we have made this terrible error, a sort of original sin of the field, to believe that minds are like computers and vice versa. We assume these things are an analog [equivalent] to human intelligence, and nothing could be further from the truth.”

One of the most fundamental aspects of human consciousness and intelligence is the ability to understand the subtle art of language, from sarcasm to figures of speech. Robots simply cannot do that, which is why we can be confident true artificial intelligence will be impossible to develop. Here is the foundation to our confidence.

.                          Our God and Heavenly Father.

Turning our thoughts to God, the designer, creator, and sustainer of the universe, the situation is so very simple. As we have indicated,

¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob [Israel], Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.       Isaiah 45

As man’s creator God knows exactly what He has made. Especially as He has made man to be part of His purpose with the Earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.       Genesis 1

That tells us that God needs thinking beings that can understand Him. The word ‘image’ in Genesis in the original Hebrew is ‏צֶלֶם‎ and means ‘similar’, rather than the same as God. The similarities God gave human beings includes a mind that could think, reason, and have emotions in the same way as God can, and the ability to communicate with Him.

So intricate is His understanding of man that he knows the thoughts of man,

¹ O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. ² Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.      Psalm 139 

God can even foresee the actions of people as we will see in the quote below. It describes the future actions of the army of a nation that is the enemy of God’s people – Israel.

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: ¹¹ And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, ¹² To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.      Ezekiel 38

You will see that those few verses describe the attack of one nation on another people in detail, and thus a prophecy, in this chapter and the next, of a war which is yet to come.

This war is not the subject of this article which is aiming to give you an idea of how the Bible describes life on our planet Earth as wholly the work of God and completely under His control.

Obviously, this is only a short description of a small part of the workings of life on earth which is under the control of a greatly superior intelligence to human beings and their inventions.

Now, there is a very important thing we must emphasise about God’s book from which we learn about Him and His purpose with the world. It contains absolute proof that it is a book of truth, and that God exists.

The Old Testament contains many prophecies of the coming of the Lord Jesus to the earth and it was complete before his birth. When Jesus was born the Old Testament was in the hands of many Jews around him and therefore they had read it and were expecting Jesus. Here is an amazing example in an incident remembered every year by millions of people! It is recorded in Matthew 2.

.                          THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE

Soon after the birth of Jesus, we can read wise men wanted to see the child. They came to king Herod and asked,

² Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.        Matthew 2

Herod called the priests to ask if they knew about this and they referred him to their scriptures, now known as the Old Testament, and the prophet Micah who lived over 700 years before Herod’s day.

Prophecy: Micah 5: ²  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

 ⁴  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. ⁵  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ⁶  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel       Matthew 2

We know from the New Testament that is where Jesus was born!

It is clear that even the priests, who reject Jesus, as the prophesied Messiah they were expecting – the Jews longed for a king and deliverer from the Romans.

But when Herod heard this he saw him as a possible rival and wanted to kill him. So, he sent soldiers into the Bethlehem area to kill all the children under two years old, a second prophecy (Jeremiah 13:15 ) thus fulfilled, but for time we will move on to a third fulfilled prophecy.

Also an Angel warned Joseph, the ‘father’ of Jesus, of the danger and sent him to safety In Egypt.

Prophecy: Hosea 11 ¹  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

 ¹⁴  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: ¹⁵  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Matthew 2

There are many fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament in the New Testament. Thus, the Bible itself contains undeniably fulfilled prophecies.

And interestingly, there is outside support for the truth of the Bible in the form of the “Dead Sea Scrolls”. The BBC broadcast a programme with that title in their series “IN OUR TIME” on Thursday, 4th May 2023 now available on “BBC sounds” (on line). The many scrolls found in the caves on the shores of the Dead Sea included at least fragments from every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther and up to a nearly complete one of Isaiah, all date back to at least 250 BC. Many are older.

.                                          Conclusion

So, we can assure you that true “Artificial Intelligence” does not, and cannot exist in the universal realm of The Supreme Intelligence of Almighty God.

¹⁷ Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1

¹⁵ … who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; ¹⁶ Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. 1 Timothy 6