AI and the Soul

So what is AI?  Most of what I am writing below is from a great TED talk aby Mustafa Suleyman, 40 year old CEO of Microsoft AI.   Google it and you will find (probably generated by AI): " a field of study that uses technology to give computers the ability to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence."   I invite you to look or listen to the interesting TED talk by Mustafa Suleyman, "What is AI Anyway?"  https://www.ted.com/talks/mustafa_suleyman_what_is_an_ai_anyway Mustafa was asked by his six year old nephew, "What is an AI?"  He answered, "It is a clever piece of software that has read most of the texts on the open internet and it can talk to you about anything you want."  The boy asked, "Right, like a person then?"  The old answers, he said just didn't work- that it is not just a new technology like printing or steam engines; it will be a tool that will augment us  (we should enhance its upside and control its downs...

 For many, AI is the next Apple- or the best way to grow rich.   Bill Gates once said, "If you invent a breakthrough in artificial intelligence so machines can learn, that is worth 10 Microsofts."  It is true.   AI has the potential to make human beings more comfortable than ever.  Since we tend to almost worship our own comfort, we will give our offerings to what will make us more comfortable- AI.  Billions will pour into the company(ies) that will lead in this industry.   On another front, military experts point out that whoever gets to "singularity" first- that is when AI surpasses humans in strategy, thinking, and the ability for tactical planning, then all the other technologies become secondary.  How big your gun is, how fast or invisible your plane is, how powerful your ship is will not matter if you have a machine that can outsmart you every time.   A week ago billions were lost to Invidia stock because Deepseek (t...

 We have a longing in our hearts for perfection.  If everything were clean, neat, organized- if people treat each other absolutely fairly, with kindness and love things would be so much better.  We get frustrated when we or someone we love is treated "unfairly."  In some cultures, unfairness can lead to or mean violence or even the death of someone.   But what we eventually realize, "life is not fair."  Nor is it "perfect."  People mess up in the words they say, the deeds they do, even the thoughts they think.  To say so an so is unfair or imperfect actually points out our own imperfections.  Jesus points out we see the speck in someone else's eye but are blind to the plank (or board) in our own eye.  We are often blind to our own faults, and the second we begin to judge others, we judge ourselves.  The parable of the tax collector and pharisee- where the pharisee brags about how good he is (and he generally is) and that he is ...

 Artificial Intelligence is very powerful because it is very popular.  It is a great tool when it is used to enhance human intelligence.  90% of high school students in America admit to using AI (like Chat GPT) to help them write papers.  From the 1700s philosophers began to forecast mechanical reckoning as equaling human reasoning.  Rene' Descartes, Leibnitz, and Thomas Hobbes were proponents of this, basically saying that the brain was just neurons with no room for personality or an innate soul.   Ancient religions speak of the human as an organic soul.  The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity believe that we are made in the image of God differentiated from both animals and inorganic or mechanistic matter.  This difference is not just in complexity but in substance- much like a plant is different from a rock.   In an effort of questioning, defiance of this belief, and curiosity, we have been trying to downgr...