Luck on a Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street. Technology gurus certainly differ when it comes to the destructive potential of AI, government power, and humanity's future.
Some, like Noah Yuval Harari, are all in, embracing the promises of youth, peace, and prosperity. Others are more measured, such as Elon Musk, who looks forward to the day that people can download their minds into robots, but also worries that AI could go rogue. Peter Thiel is one of the most interesting cases. A recent episode of the Theology PubCast. Rightly described Teal as a theologically curious tech bro who has introduced the word Antichrist back into popular conversations, all while warning of AI's capabilities.
Teal also thinks that AI is the best way to fight this monster. In an interview with Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution, Thiel suggested that only fear of chaos like war, famine, and disease, what he called Armageddon, could lead otherwise free-thinking people to give up their liberty to a strong man. i.e. the Antichrist, who promises them safety. A more recent article in First Things, co-authored by Teal and Sam Wolf, argued that when faced with picking the lesser of two evils, don't.
And I quote: For philosophy, the question one world or none has but one answer, better read than dead. Theology reformulates the question, Antichrist or Armageddon. Neither, the Christian replies. He prays for new miracles, new technologies, strange new possibilities. Not necessarily clear, but had Teal stopped there, he would have added something constructive to an essential conversation.
All of us should consider just how today's helpful technologies could become tomorrow's tyranny. In his book 2084 and the AI Revolution, Oxford mathematician and apologist John Lennox issued a similar warning, quote, the way world politics are going, it's not hard to imagine that political power will be concentrated into the hands of fewer and fewer people, which could potentially lead to a world state controlled by a single person with extraordinary authority, end quote. But as a subsequent Wall Street Journal article summarized, Teal's thinking hasn't stopped there. It hasn't stopped at merely considering what might be the source of our collective doom. And I quote, to simplify, Teal sees more apocalyptic risk to humanity from those who would stop AI than from those who would promote it.
In other words, the only way to fight a world-embracing oppressive regime, Thiel believes, is to push the development of the very artificial intelligence that could make such tyranny possible in the first place.
Now, a classic plotline of Greek tragedy is when the flawed hero runs headlong into his fate, all while trying to avoid it. In fact, the Greeks had a word for that kind of self-assurance. The kind that blinds you, hubris. C.S. Lewis identified the modern version of hubris as often being chronological snobbery, and he also suggested a very helpful antidote for it.
Quote: The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there's any magic about the past. People were no cleverer than they are now. They made as many mistakes as we, but not the same mistakes, end quote. Recently, author and professor Andrew Snyder offered an updated version of that same recommendation when he posted, and I quote, everything you need to know to understand our times is right here, along with images of the covers of a book from J.R.R.
Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, specifically that hideous strength. In the face of such dire warnings about the future, this advice to read old books can seem quaint.
However, we need to be reminded by Tolkien how even the best of us can be tempted by power. We need to hear again from Lewis just how the danger of oppression often comes through appeals to advancement.
Now, of course, we'll need more than just old books if we're really going to resist the dangers of techno-tyranny. But we're not going to make it without the perspective those books provide. We need to know the truth about the human condition. We need to be clear about the temptations of hubris and the appeals to safety. We need to be reminded that using the weapons of the enemy rarely ends well for us, even if well intentioned.
And speaking of old books, there's certainly no more helpful one than the Bible. which warns us of hubris and reminds us that history is not ultimately in our hands in the first place. From that old book, there's hope, grounded in the person and work of Jesus Christ. That hope is the real antidote. to both hubris and despair.
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. For resources like this, go to Breakpoint.org.
Join the Colson Center at Colorado Christian University on February 4th for a screening of Truth Rising. Truth Rising explores the state of Western civilization through the stories of ordinary people who met their chaotic moment with courage. Watch how they chose faith over fear and be inspired to act courageously right where you are. The evening includes a QA with Jack Phillips, one of the faces of the film. This event is free, but space is limited.
Register now at colsoncenter.org/slash CCU. That's colsoncenter.org slash CCU.
