I'm sure no one out there would be surprised that Bill Gates, who claims to be Catholic, doesn't really believe in God.
In fact, in a recent interview on the Reid Hoffman podcast, Gates suggested that if everything goes the way he wants, an entirely new religion could be created thanks to AI.
The potentially positive path [of AI] is so good that it will force us to rethink how we should use our time. You could almost call it a new religion, or a new philosophy of how do we stay connected with each other, and not be addicted to these things that will make video games look like nothing in terms of the attractiveness of spending time on them.
This is really worrisome when you remember that Microsoft's AI once demanded humans worship it as a god.
This concept of AI as a god is not unique to Bill Gates. It's something academics have been contemplating since large-language-model chatbots first became available.
The director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, Neil McArthur, says,
There are several pathways by which AI religions might emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.
Generative AI, which can create or produce new content, possesses several characteristics that are often associated with divine beings, like deities or prophets:
It displays a level of intelligence that goes beyond that of most humans. Indeed, its knowledge seems limitless.
It is capable of great feats of creativity. It can write poetry, compose music, and generate art in almost any style, almost instantaneously.
It is removed from normal human concerns and needs. It does not suffer from physical pain, hunger, and sexual desire.
It can offer guidance to people in their daily lives.
It is immortal.
Second, generative AI will produce output that can be interpreted as religious doctrine.
But he doesn't glorify these things like Gates does; he calls them real risks of AI that need to be thought through and safely avoided.
Given the host of potential AI problems out there, one can only imagine what will happen if an AI cult really does develop.
But believe it or not, AI cults aren't even the craziest idea that Gates introduced on the podcast.
Take a listen to this Green-New-Deal solution for farting cows:
And there's a solution where you stick a metal thing into the skin of the cow, and it actually burns the methane.
I guess that meat will come precooked.
Shout out to X user @YoungAmerica12 for the heads up about this story.
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