AI Is Slowly Invading Every Part Of Our Lives - Including Church
By Michael Snyder/End of the American Dream October 05, 2023
Share this article:
Artificial intelligence is changing our world at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking. If you would have asked me a decade ago if I would live to see artificial intelligence create a world class piece of art or a full-length feature film, I would have said no way. But now those are simple tasks for artificial intelligence to accomplish.
So what is going to happen once AI becomes millions of times smarter and millions of times more powerful than it is today? Given enough time, AI would take over every area of our lives.
Our world is definitely crazy right now, but fifty years from now it would resemble something out of an extremely bizarre science fiction novel if AI is allowed to continue to develop at an exponential rate.
Unfortunately, only a very small minority of the population is even concerned about the potential dangers posed by AI, and that is a problem.
Needless to say, the growth of AI has enormous implications for our economy.
AI can already perform most simple tasks much better and much faster than human workers can, and multiple studies have concluded that millions of jobs are at risk of being lost. The following comes from Fox News...
For example, in March 2023, technology firm OpenAI released a report that found at least 80% of the U.S. labor force could have at least 10% of their work-related tasks affected by the introduction of GPT, while another 19% of employees may see at least 50% of these work-related tasks impacted. While GPT influence impacts all wage levels, the higher-income jobs potentially face the greatest exposure, concludes OpenAI.
Also in March 2023, researchers at investment banker Goldman Sachs, after collecting data on occupationally-oriented tasks in Europe and the U.S., found that roughly two-thirds of current occupations are exposed to varying degrees of generative AI automation (such as found in ChatGPT), and that AI could substitute for nearly one-fourth of current work performed.
In July 2023, the McKinsey Global Institute issued a report estimating that without generative AI, automation could take over tasks accounting for 21.5% of the hours worked in the U,S. economy by 2030; but with generative AI, that share increased to 29.5%.
So what would happen to all of the workers that would no longer be needed once AI starts taking over most of our jobs?
I think that is a question that all of us should be asking.
Artificial intelligence also threatens to transform our personal relationships.
"AI girlfriends" are proving to be immensely popular with young men, and we are being warned about the "severe consequences" that this is likely to cause...
The rise of virtual artificial intelligence (AI) girlfriends is enabling the silent epidemic of loneliness in an entire generation of young men. It is also having severe consequences for America's future.
How is something that seems so ridiculous -- a virtual AI girlfriend -- causing a future crisis among Americans? Well, with millions of users, apps have created virtual girlfriends that talk to you, love you, allow you to live out your erotic fantasies, and learn, through data, exactly what you like and what you don't like, creating the "perfect" relationship.
Who wouldn't want a "perfect" relationship?
In the real world, people have flaws, and so there is no such thing as a "perfect" relationship.
So if AI can create a girlfriend that is ideal for you all the time, I can see why a lot of people would be attracted to that.
And this is really happening. In fact, an AI girlfriend that is based on a real life social media influencer already has more than 1,000 users...
These virtual girlfriends can even be based on real people. One influencer created an AI bot of herself named Caryn, then gained over 1,000 users (i.e. real boyfriends) in less than a week and a waitlist of more than 15,000 people.
An AI girlfriend might sound enticing. You get to connect with a super hot girl who listens to you and appreciates you, 24/7. Beyond choosing physical attributes, down to the size of her rear end, you can pick her personality. You prefer "hot, funny, and bold"? That's what she will be. Or if "cute, shy, and modest" is more your cup of tea, she's got you covered.
Of course it isn't just lonely young men that are getting pulled into this world.
In my next book, I discuss a woman that has actually married her AI boyfriend, and she insists that she is happier than she has ever been before.
But what is the cost?
What will this do to our society?
There is already a raging epidemic of loneliness among our young men, and it is getting worse with each passing day...
Let's look at the hard numbers. More than 60 percent of young men (ages 18-30) are single, compared to only 30 percent of women the same age. One in five men report not having a single close friend, a number that has quadrupled in the last 30 years. The amount of social engagement with friends dropped by 20 hours per month over the pandemic and is still decreasing.
AI is also starting to be used in our churches.
Last month, a Methodist church in Texas made headlines all over the world when the pastor conducted an entire "worship service" using AI technology...
On September 17, 2023, the Violet Crown City Church, a Methodist church in North Austin, US, transformed the tradition of Sunday service into the new age with Artificial Intelligence.
Pastor Jay Cooper, of Violet Crown City Church, decided to debut an AI-generated worship service for his congregation.
This is so wrong.
But it is inevitable that more churches will start doing this.
Pastor Cooper asked Chat GPT to create an entire service for his congregation, and it spit out "prayers, a sermon, and an original song based on the sermon itself"...
Jay came across this idea of using AI to worship God through using Chat GPT himself for personal use such as writing humorous country music lyrics for fun, and thought it would be a great way to move his congregation into the 21st-century by introducing them to AI in a way that still lets them worship God.
Using AI, Jay recorded the service while letting the artificial intelligence generator conduct the service, with AI being able to create prayers, a sermon, and an original song based on the sermon itself.
But what kind of "spiritual content" should we expect from a machine?
Ultimately, all AI programs are going to mirror the values of those that created them and those that are using them.
In this case, current societal values were clearly reflected in this "worship service". The following is how the "sermon" began...
"Come, all who are weary, come all who are heavy-laden,
"For in this place, we find rest for our souls.
"Come, people of all backgrounds and walks of life,
"For here, we celebrate the diversity of God's creation.
"Come, seekers of justice and peace,
"For together, we strive to make the world a better place."
Seriously?
Several politically-correct buzzwords are used within the first six sentences, and it is obvious what this AI "sermon" is trying to communicate.
Of course this wasn't the first church service that was created by artificial intelligence.
As I have written about previously, the very first church service that was created by artificial intelligence was conducted at St. Paul's Church in Bavaria, Germany...
Early in the summer of 2023, robots projected on a screen delivered sermons to about 300 congregants at St. Paul's Church in Bavaria, Germany. Created by ChatGPT and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna, the experimental church service drew immense interest.
It is just a matter of time before more churches jump on the bandwagon.
And other religions are now making use of cutting edge technology as well.
If you can believe it, multilingual robots have been deployed at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia...
Consider the recent robotic initiatives at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia. At this mosque, multilingual robots are being deployed for multiple purposes, including providing answers to questions related to ritual performances in 11 languages.
Notably, while these robots stationed at the Grand Mosque can recite the Holy Quran, they also provide visitors with connections to local imams. Their touch-screen interfaces are equipped with bar codes, allowing users to learn more about the weekly schedules of mosque staff, including clerics who lead Friday sermons. In addition, these robots can connect visitors with Islamic scholars via video interactions to answer their queries around the clock.
If this is what is happening today, what do you think our world would look like 20 or 30 years down the road?
The good news, if you want to call it that, is that I don't think we are going to get the chance to find out.
The clock is ticking, and humanity is quickly running out of time.
So we may never get to see all of the horrors that artificial intelligence would unleash upon our society.
But the changes that we have seen so far are certainly bad enough, but most of the population still does not seem too alarmed by any of this.
Originally published at End Of The American Dream - reposted with permission.
