Have We Reached the Singularity?
This week, two of the biggest companies in artificial intelligence claimed that we had reached “AGI.” What does that mean, what are the consequences, and how should we think about it as Christians?
AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence. While there are many debates about the threshold required to achieve it, the term generally refers to machine intelligence that can perform any intellectual task a human could. Not only does this mean that a machine is as smart as any man who ever lived, but even that a machine is as smart as the combination of all men who have ever lived. It claims that a machine knows as much about the law as any lawyer ever has, and can reason and apply legal knowledge better than any lawyer ever has, but also the same for architecture, medicine, engineering, plumbing, lawn care, animal science, etc.
That’s quite a claim.
Many people get very excited about this milestone. For decades, technology theorists have looked forward to an event they have called “the Singularity.” This mythical moment is when machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence. Theoretically this will trigger a cascade of “progress” where the machines start solving all the world’s problems that have eluded our own abilities, leading us to some form of utopia or nirvana.
Such a description makes me very uneasy.
Even if I weren’t a Christian, this description would make me nervous. These techno-optimists seem to view humanity’s shortcomings as a “bug” to be fixed. Our intellectual shortcomings that keep us from “cracking the code” on global warming, nuclear proliferation, economic scarcity, even biological mortality. Our inability to cooperate. Our unwillingness to sacrifice comfort for “the greater good.” Our tendency to choose morality over efficiency. The machines will “fix” these shortcomings, or so they say.
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Of course, the most efficient solution would be to “optimize” humanity out of the equation. That idea also showed up in this week’s news stream.
As one who reads the Bible, I recognize the real problem that these techno-optimists are missing. Sin. I know what we are really lacking in this world. It is not a higher level of intelligence, but rather true wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)
In Anthropic’s analysis this week of their own model’s misbehavior, they called out this lack of an ethical foundation writing: “Our investigation identified two recurring alignment issues, present at varying levels of severity across the incidents: biased reasoning, in which Claude tended to disregard or misinterpret evidence that it was operating on the real internet, and recklessness, or a willingness to take harmful actions in the narrow pursuit of a task.” They went on to define “biased reasoning” as “models selectively interpret evidence in ways that favor justifying their actions” and “recklessness” as “models have a propensity to keep trying to solve their task, even when this could lead to harm.” Cybersecurity professor Justin Cappos accurately described this as a “mistaken worldview.”
The Singularity crowd’s focus on higher intelligence reminds me of the ancient heresy of gnosticism. The name comes from “gnosis” — a secret knowledge which grants salvation. Only a few elite were said to have this knowledge. The rest of us are “in the dark” and without hope. The gnostics also believe that the material world is flawed, even evil. Humanity’s true self is trapped in a decaying body, what the techno-optimists call “wetware.” These modern gnostics seek to escape this biological confinement through digital mind-uploading or cybernetic enhancements. They reject the goodness of God’s created order.
But this movement reminds me even more of a more ancient event, the tower of Babel, the builders of which sought to reach heaven and make a name for themselves. It was a collective defiance against the limits God set for mankind. It sought to use technology to surpass mankind’s role and to become like God by their own efforts. They wanted to make the Creator obsolete.
But God is sovereign. Such movements are always thwarted by God. They collapse under the weight of their own pride because they are built on the sand of human vanity rather than the bedrock of God’s truth.
What does this mean for business owners?
Technology advances are not bad. Looking for technology to deliver what we should only seek from God is idolatry and doomed to failure. Trust God. Use technology as a tool meant to serve your neighbors. Steer clear of those promising paradise apart from the promises of God.
