AI, The Apocalypse and the Sound of Angels

I watched an interview/podcast by Peter Robinson with Peter Thiel titled Apocalypse Now: Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech.

Peter Robinson asked questions from a perspective of a person of faith, posed to one of the founders of Big Tech. Mr. Thiel's background is co-founder of PayPal, a seed investor of Facebook who launched Palantir, a powerful AI software developer and a man who is obsessed with life extension research.

While Mr. Robinson read segments from the Old and New Testament scriptures forecasting a future apocalypse, Mr. Thiel acknowledged that the rapid unfolding of Artificial Intelligence could lead to this very scenario. He believes that man has the tools for self-destruction and without some sort of boundaries, we could find there is no "off switch" to this new technology. To date, this has been left up to the companies creating the risk, in charge of managing the risk — so the fox guarding the henhouse.

The difference was palatable in their visions. For all his wealth and success, Mr. Thiel wears a permanent, worried expression. He is also among the wealthiest who can afford the escape hatch, which he apparently has. Many in the tech world have an elaborate bolt hole in beautiful "safe" places like New Zealand, secret bunkers ready for "The End." While he and others plow forward for the "sake of innovation, invention and immortality," the rest of us are noticing these changes like frogs in a warm, comfy, slow-boiling pot.

The same conversations are popping up on other platforms by the same creators of this future utopia/apocalypse, depending on who's doing the talking.

Elon Musk was a recent guest on Bill Maher, the same Elon Musk who will join the new Trump administration for a role in cleaning up waste and slashing the debt. Who is not for that?! He seems to really enjoy the new spotlight alongside Trump, the large crowds and the accolades. I am among many who applaud Musk's amazing achievements. Maher calls him a genius. He is a gifted man. But Mr. Maher starts his interview with a straight-faced and steady stare, like Mr. Robinson, asking Musk where this is all going - it could be used, AI, for good or evil. Legitimate question. I observe body language and reactions, which can sometimes tell you more than what the person is saying. See for yourself - it's both funny and sobering:

Sunday night on "60 Minutes," a disturbing segment on AI featured some of the big tech giants (like Google) employing the poor but educated in places like Africa to sift through countless data to "tag" content designated for AI. This included porn and much vile content that rendered the workers, who are making $2.00 per hour, sick and damaged. (Here is that segment.)

Glenn Beck recently interviewed a sought-after top consultant for creators of AI, to advise on the pros and cons of this new technology, and the needed boundaries and cautions that should be taken. He looked like a high school kid fresh off the basketball court, with a positive, light-hearted energy, and yet he talked like he was channeling Einstein. He is currently advising Elon Musk. This is well worth your time. You can catch the sometimes eye-diverting, worried expression - the same one Mr. Thiel wears.

I could hardly keep up with the incredible things he was saying, but I kept hearing a new phrase to me - "Step Change." I looked it up. Here is the definition:

A step change is a sudden or major change in the way that something happens or the way that someone behaves. [mainly British] regional note: in AM, usually use sea change. Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

In other words, there are changes coming that will be sudden, abrupt and will affect all aspects of life as we know it. There is no stopping it, as this roll-out has been happening for some time, all over the world, well before the "rules/boundaries/stop signs" are even created, let alone implemented.

Sorry, here is just one more (of many) that I have come across in recent months — that keeps me up at night, because, like Mr. Robinson, I am a believer and a Christian and have the same questions. Read the title below carefully — "The desire to be like God."

An interesting advisor to the WEF, Yuval Harari thinks we will be as gods: "Along with being a historian, futurist, and Israeli university professor, Yuval Harari is a well-known author and contributor to the World Economic Forum. He’s written two popular books, one titled Sapiens that chronicles the (supposed) evolutionary rise of humanity and a second attempting to predict the rise of a new human species—hence the title Homo Deus, meaning “God Man.”

So............. Peter Robinson promises a Part II to his story.

While Part One was a good interview, I feel like asking spiritual questions of a non-spiritual person will only give us a hologram view of this coming apocalypse - a humanistic, artificially-created reality that will come with massive surveillance and control, and even attempt to achieve immortality through human efforts. It's the serpent's oldest lie. This coming, (near) future world is devoid of Spirit, and the prophets warned about it long ago.

The book Don't Be Evil by Rana Foroohar is a great read. Written in 2019, she was an insider, player and witness to the rise of the tech titans, and describes how the creation of powerful systems in technology and AI has allowed the rise of great wealth, innovation and control in the hands of a few to change what it means to be human.

The Holy Season is upon us - the sounds of Angels pouring out over all the Earth with songs and gifts and cheer. This is real. Hold on to it.