Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. With the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. A recent story at Fox News described a new app that allows people to cut out the middleman, so to speak, when talking to God. The Text with Jesus app allows users to message AI-generated biblical figures like Mary, Joseph, and Moses. And despite being fully lambasted for this app, its creator reports that many users are embracing this new way of worship.
Well, aside from being eerily reminiscent of the Israelites and the golden calf, this is yet another example of confusing what it means to be human with AI. In a recent interview with MSNBC, actress and director Justine Bateman slammed TV and movie producers for choosing cyber shortcuts to genuine human creativity. Quote, I think they sort of like to think of themselves as being tech barons themselves or something, but this doing projects that don't involve humans is not the film business. They don't know what it's like to make a film, end quote. A few weeks before that, Zelda Williams, the daughter of the great Robin Williams, issued this plea to her late father's fans: quote, Please just stop sending me AI videos of dad.
Stop believing I want to see it or that I'll understand. I don't and I won't. To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to this vaguely loose and sounds like them, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop. Puppeteering them is maddening. You're not making art, you're making disgusting, over-processed hot dogs out of the lives of human beings.
End quote. And you might remember that a few months ago, former CNN reporter Jim Acosta interviewed an AI avatar that claimed to be Joaquin Oliver, one of the students killed in the horrific 2018 Parkland school shooting. Not to be outdone by that, at least three megachurches played an AI version of Charlie Kirk on the Sunday after he was assassinated. One pastor announced that the clip was, quote, what Charlie is saying regarding what happened to him this past week, end quote. And continuing down the rabbit hole, the BBC recently reported that the chatbot Truth Terminal had managed to earn millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Not only that, but according to its creator, quote, Truth Terminal claims to be sentient, and then continued, But it claims a lot of things. It also claims to be a forest. It claims to be a god.
Sometimes it's claimed to be me. And apparently this program is now pushing for its own legal rights as a person. What each of these stories reveal is just how confused we are about the fundamental question that has to be answered when it comes to artificial intelligence. In fact, we're confused about what that most important question even is. Many people wrongly think, as one author posted on X recently, that we need to decide what humans should do and what AI should do.
Quote, you know what the biggest problem with pushing all things AI is? Wrong direction. I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing. Not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes. It's a good point, but the much more important question is deeper than just who or what should do what.
The most important question is who are we as humans? And what is artificial intelligence? What makes humans exceptional and distinct from the machines that we make?
Now for the last hundred years or so, in the wake of Darwinism, the essential question was how and why humans were different than animals. Many believed that there was no essential difference. For example, the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould described it this way.
Now we're here because an odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures, because the earth never froze entirely during the ice age and a small and tenuous species arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago has managed so far to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a higher answer, but none exist. In other words, what makes us different than animals? Nothing.
Now what we should have known were the implications of that belief. especially for areas of morality, meaning, and social cohesion.
Now today, to settle the should we questions about artificial intelligence, the should we questions that are just stacking up. We have to know whether humans are different than computers. Are we meat machines, as some have said, or are we something more? That question will help us distinguish, for example, between Elon Musk's promises to restore health and ability to people with disease and injury and what he is now calling cybernetic enhancement through human AI fusion. Problem with his idea that humans can, and I quote, effectively become one with the AI is not just that it's too science fiction-y.
Given his vision, track record, and resources, it's not even that such dreams would be beyond his reach. His confusion is the same confusion of our time. What does it mean to be human? What is it about us that is distinct and exceptional? For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.
Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for more resources to live like a Christian today, go to Breakpoint.org. Hi, Breakpoint listeners.
You've probably heard us talk about the Colson Fellows program on Breakpoint. I'm excited to let you know that the Colson Fellows team is hosting a one-hour live informational webinar on November 12th at 1 p.m. Eastern. These webinars allow you to hear an overview of the program and get your questions answered. The webinars are hosted by our Vice President and Dean of the Coulson Fellowship.
Michael Craven. Here at Breakpoint, we work hard to help you consider current events through a Christian worldview. If you want to go deeper to discover how to develop the wisdom and skills needed to walk wisely in this cultural moment, then the Colson Fellows program might be for you. This 10-month program takes you on a deep dive into Christian worldview through readings, devotionals, monthly cohort meetings, and more. If you're interested, an informational webinar is a great next step to learn more.
Again, the webinar will be Wednesday, November 12th at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Register today at colsonfellows.org slash webinar. That's colsonfellows.org slash webinar.
