UNDERMINING CERTAINTY

There are terms that have sprung into use in recent years that reinforce the realization that authoritative sources are becoming more and more difficult to find! Terms like: ‘misinformation’ or ‘fake news’ cloud our perspective and leave us to our own devices to discern truth.

What exactly is misinformation?

The implication: information that is not truly information!  

‘Fake news’ – a ‘Trumpism’ implies news that has been manufactured with a bias most likely toward a specific political view or party.

We’ve been living with these terms for at least ten years! They seem to have arisen as a result of the ideological split resulting from the presidential election of 2016.

But within the past year, a whole new dynamic has quickly become dominant.

I’m a Facebooker. Is that a term? I’m on Facebook every day. I don’t refer to myself as a ‘digital creator’ as do SO MANY OTHERS!!!!!  Rather, I view myself as an entertaining seed-sower! How’s THAT for a new term?

I use Facebook!  It’s a platform that allows me to attract followers. My bait is humor. I post mostly humorous memes, sayings, quotes and facts throughout the day.  However, I also sprinkle in spiritual information, Biblical stories and quotes, and other thought-provoking articles.

My hope is to be a godly influence through a media-form that is available and popular. I’m not alone in this endeavor! I see many others using the platform in similar ways! 😊

However, I’ve been noticing many posts on Facebook that I find myself wondering about. Is this true?

I frequently flip over to my browser to try to verify the data that I’ve just been exposed to. Like others, I notice certain stories that frequently mention a popular person; but then these stories resurface including a different highly recognizable person. Which is true? Is either the original?

I’ve made it this far in this article before using the cataclysmic term ‘Artificial Information’ – obviously known as ‘AI’.

This new source of information terrifies me!

Now don’t color me as an alarmist! I’ve seen the benefits of this incredible information-gathering system – and have even used AI with remarkable results! But I also experience fear on several levels.

EDUCATION

I’ve occasionally joked about the fact that we had to learn math because we couldn’t carry a calculator around in our pocket.  Well – guess what?  Almost ALL of us now carry a calculator around on our person!

Some years ago, my wife and her siblings oversaw the care for their mother. Deb was sometimes gone from our home for two twenty-four-hour periods every week so that she could stay in the room with her mom. Her other siblings shared in this loving, caring responsibility. In their frequent discussions, Dolores learned that Deb [and, of course, her siblings] carried a phone that enabled them to search for information. She would repeatedly say to Deb: “Get your phone thingy out and look it up.”

Most of us carry a ‘phone-thingy’ that is capable of giving us information that is limited only by the strength of its battery!!!!

Will the need for education be eclipsed by the fact that we now all carry ‘phone-thingies’ with us everywhere we go?

With information so readily available, do we really need to know anything more than HOW TO READ?

The long-range implication of this is terrifying! In the event of an accidental, weather-related or war-related power failure, we could be left in a dark place in more ways than one! Maybe we should all look for old copies of Encyclopedia Brittanica – just in case?

WHAT IS TRUTH?

But of even greater concern to me is the query of Pilate in John 18:37-38,

…Jesus tells Pilate, “I was born and I have come into the world to testify to the truth… Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”. Pilate then replies, “What is truth?” and immediately goes out to the Jews, saying, “I find no basis for a charge against him” 

[By the way, I used AI to research this response of Pilate to Jesus! 😉]

I fear that TRUTH may be undermined – or redefined - by Artificial Information!

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Those who are tuned in to this debate are aware of direct influences that we may have to experience as a result of the egregious growth of the Artificial Information developments.

Already, large farms have been purchased and are being transformed into massive ‘data centers’ across our country. Some of these communities have been afflicted with rolling brown-outs and water shortages as a result of the operation of these data centers. It’s apparent that in order to operate effectively these centers need acreage, a power source and water for cooling their systems. Many communities are now organizing to resist these data centers from invading their space!

HOWEVER, other knowledgeable pundits are telling us that it is essential that the United States lead the development of AI because it will build into the structure moral and appropriate limits that would NOT be present if it was generated by a godless country with no moral foundation!!

So, we are caught in the crosshairs!

We may not like the fallout and the inconveniences that accompany data centers, but we do value the benefits of control and safety for the future!

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ANOTHER IMPLICATION

It might be wise for us to safely secure a Bible somewhere for the reference and use of future generations.

We know the history of book burning!

In 213 B.C., Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang (more widely remembered for his terracotta army in Xian) ordered a bonfire of books as a way of consolidating power in his new empire. [Imagine the value of these books which would have ALL been handwritten and made!]

 

Perhaps the most infamous book burnings were those staged by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

 

Similarly, when Mao Zedong took power in China and implemented the Cultural Revolution, any book that didn’t conform to party propaganda, like those promoting capitalism or other dangerous ideas, were destroyed.

 

More recently, the Jaffna Public Library of Sri Lanka—home to nearly 100,000 rare books of Tamil history and literature—was burned by Sinhalese Buddhists.

 

When al-Qaida Islamists invaded Mali, and then Timbuktu in 2012, among their targets were priceless manuscripts—books that needed to be burned. 

With the growing dominance of AI, will bookburning inevitably be an image in our future?

If AI takes on god-like proportions, will there be a global attempt to undermine other sources of truth?

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Don’t be an alarmist, Hal!

I’m not trying to be negative here – only practical.

I’ve already confessed that I’ve used AI and will continue to do so.

However, somebody somewhere has to place some limits on the growth and use of this contrivance!

As a lifelong pastor, my concern is for the continued spread of the Gospel and the health of the Church!

At this point, I am a cautious proponent of Artificial Information. But when it begins to infringe on our freedom or limit our access to spiritual information-gathering, I will be forced to become an activist!