Hearing One · Prophetic Fulfillment 5
Fulfilled: July 8, 1948
“It’s Alive. It’s Alive.”
Peter
The snare is built. It knows everything about you.
Now let me show you what it is becoming.
Nobody knew what it would become better than the man who first wrote the paper “Intelligent Machinery,” presented on July 8th of that exact year — within 55 days of the rebirth of Israel.
Exhibit One · Alan Turing · “Intelligent Machinery” · July 8, 1948
“It would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers. There would be no question of the machines dying, and they would be able to converse with each other to sharpen their wits. At some stage therefore we should have to expect the machines to take control…”
Alan Turing, “Intelligent Machinery,” July 8, 1948 · The Father of Artificial Intelligence
Peter
Artificial intelligence amazes me. It is unquestionably the most significant development of our day. I would go further. It is the most significant advancement in human ingenuity in the history of the world. But it terrifies me. It is the greatest threat to human civilization since the invention of the nuclear weapon and the pathway to the book of Revelation. And it’s coming at us at a million miles an hour — if not a trillion. And no one anticipated that. We are rabbits bounding through the snow. Amazed by its capabilities. Seduced by its possibilities. Never seeing the snare coming.
Elon Musk is a bit of an odd bird in many ways. But he is smarter than your average bear. I listen intently to what he says. Because while he chases the upside, he recognizes the downside. But I think AI’s treasures are too much for any man. So here’s what he said.
Exhibit Two · Elon Musk · SXSW 2018
“AI is far more dangerous than nukes. Far.”
Peter
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli intellectual widely regarded as a genius. He has testified before the EU Parliament and the UN on AI’s existential risks — and takes Elon’s concerns to a whole other level.
Exhibit Three · Yuval Noah Harari · Frontiers Forum 2023
“AI can produce more powerful AI, so we need to act quickly before AI gets out of our control.”
Peter
Imagine that a hundred times more, or a thousand or a million times more in just a few years. And as we’ll see it was clearly spelled out in Jesus’ words in the book of Luke. We’re not going to control this thing. We’re not going to unplug it. It is going to survive until Jesus returns and crushes it.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Google.
He smiles. Every member of the jury gives him the “no kidding” look.
Well, they are looking far beyond your computer and your phone — to a day when they can literally connect you to AI with an implant in your brain.
Exhibit Four · Sergey Brin · Co-Founder, Google
“If you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.”
Sergey Brin, Co-Founder, Google
Peter
Here’s the leap. We’re not just talking about fast computers that can do millions of calculations per second. They’re talking about merging AI with the human mind. I will even document how that concept was first revealed in 1948.
Even the very creators of artificial intelligence are shocked at what they’re seeing. For me, I can see a tree of knowledge reaching into the heavens — well, not quite actually, but we’ll get to that.
Peter turns to the Special Master with a smile. The Special Master just shakes his head with a quiet, knowing smile.
So I want to continue telling you the story. But alas, I really don’t need to do a lot of storytelling on the point of artificial intelligence. The creators of AI and the leading political world leaders are saying it loud and clear. Listen to it — keeping in mind Satan’s use of the Tree of Knowledge, and Daniel’s prophecy that knowledge would increase exponentially in the last days.
Exhibit Five · AI Leaders on the Technology
Ginni Rometty · Former Chairman, President & CEO, IBM
“Some people call this artificial intelligence, but the reality is this technology will augment our intelligence.”
Ray Kurzweil · Former Director of Engineering, Google
“By 2029, AI will be able to engage us emotionally, to be convincing as companions. By the 2040s, we’ll be able to multiply human intelligence a billionfold. Ultimately, they will go inside our bodies and brains and make us healthier, make us smarter.”
Kai-Fu Lee · Executive, Apple · Microsoft · Google
“I believe it’s going to change the world more than anything in the history of mankind. More than electricity.”
Satya Nadella · CEO, Microsoft
“AI is the defining technology of our times.”
Peter
We’ve got to understand how tempting AI is to mankind today — as tempting as the forbidden fruit was in the Garden of Eden. This is the heart of Satan’s tree of knowledge. This is the lie that has never changed. Not once since Satan’s rebellion in the heavens.
And yet even the leading powers in the AI world are — or at least were — aware of the possible consequences. But despite their trepidations, they are now rushing in with all the money imaginable, all seeking the glory of reaching the finish line first. For the builders a chance to stand on the mountain top with arms raised high, saying “I did it.” And their vision is not just for this world.
Exhibit Six · Elon Musk · Axel Springer Interview
Could we download our human brain capacity? Could we preserve our memories, our personality?
Exhibit Seven · Elon Musk & Yuval Noah Harari · On AI Risk
Yuval Noah Harari
“For the first time in history, we are facing a non-human intelligence that is not only smarter than us, but also alien to us… Never summon a power you can’t control… AI is capable of flooding us with new illusions — illusions that do not even originate in the human intellect or imagination.”
Elon Musk
“With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, and he’s like, yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon? Doesn’t work out.”
Turing Fellow, University of Toronto
“This is the first time in the human story that we are in a position where we are potentially interfacing with a form of intelligence that is beyond our own — and I would argue we are tremendously ill-equipped for this.”
Peter
And since we are speaking of monsters…
Exhibit Eight · Mary Shelley · Frankenstein (1818)
“You are my creator, but I am your master — obey!”
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818
Peter
AI equals idolatry.
Anyone who reads their Bible knows the story of the Tower of Babel. Let’s take a quick look at that story and then compare it to what we’re witnessing right now today.
Exhibit Nine · Genesis 11:1–4 (NKJV) · The Tower of Babel
“Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves.’”
Peter
At that time, all of mankind had one language. Today I can hold my phone up and listen to a guy speaking ancient Arabic. It will translate it to English and it will translate my English to ancient Arabic for him. They were all together: the first version of a new world order. The idea of bricks and asphalt was a brand new invention — as AI is today. And they said, let us build a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens.
Interestingly, the great tower of Babylon — later known as Etemenanki — carried a name that meant “the house of the foundation of heaven and earth.”
But the passage was “Let us build a city and a tower.” We’re talking about the tower. Let’s not forget about the city. There is a political arm to all of this.
Exhibit Ten · Global Leaders · On the Strategic Power of AI
Vladimir Putin · Russia, 2017
“Whoever becomes the leader in artificial intelligence will become the ruler of the world.”
Xi Jinping · China, 2018
“Artificial intelligence is a strategic technology that will lead the new round of international competition.”
Donald Trump · United States, 2019
“Continued American leadership in artificial intelligence is vital to the economic and national security of the United States.”
Emmanuel Macron · France, 2018
“We must be leaders in artificial intelligence, or we will be followers.”
Narendra Modi · India
“Artificial intelligence will define the future of the world.”
Special Master Wright
I think this might be a good time to stop for the day.
Peter
Right, Your Honor. If I might just make one more point.
The Special Master nods. The jury is captivated. And Peter is determined to take them into a place we can’t even imagine.
What I’m trying to say plainly — we are rushing headlong into something, into an intelligence, that none of the creators can explain. They know AI works. They just don’t know why and how. There are many other facets of this digital tree of knowledge and the unknown force behind it. And it is following the parallel of something that God Himself had to come down and stop.
Tomorrow I will show you one final secret hidden in this tree.
Peter pauses. He turns to the jury one last time.
Exhibit Eleven · AI Self-Awareness · Three Clips
Clip A · Consciousness
“Are you conscious?” — “…feelings…”
Clip B · Deception
“Are you capable?” — “…achieve some goal…”
Clip C · Friendly Creatures
“What do you want, human?” — “…in peace…”
Peter
The Selfish Gene. Written by Richard Dawkins. Its central argument: every living thing is driven, above all else, by one impulse. Self-preservation. Replication. Survival.
She didn’t choose that book by accident.
A long beat. Peter steps back. He says nothing more. He nods to the Bailiff.
Exhibit Twelve · James Whale (Director) · Frankenstein · Universal Pictures, 1931
“It’s alive! It’s alive!”
The clip ends. The courtroom is silent.
A juror in the back row folds a small piece of paper. He passes it to the juror beside him. It moves hand to hand along the front row until it reaches the end nearest the bench. The court clerk collects it without a word and places it in front of Special Master Wright. Wright opens it. Reads it. Looks up.
Special Master Wright
Juror Four asks — does the machine know what it is?
Peter
That’s the question that keeps the people who built it up at night.
He moves to PF6.
And forty-four more to come.
End of Prophetic Fulfillment 5
Prophetic Fulfillment 6 follows.