Apocalyptic AI: Religion and the Promise of Artificial Intelligence

Geraci, Robert M.

doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfm101

Cited by 135 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Many outside analysts have also noted that the ideas in TH are analogous to the ideas in many religions, and thus TH can be seen as a replacement for religion (Hopkins, 2005;Geraci, 2008;Brooke, 2005). For example, theologian Brent Waters writes that TH "represents a late modern religious response to the finite and mortal constraints of human existence" (Waters, 2011, p. 164).…”

Section: The Religiousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faith in science in global perspective: Implications for transhumanism

Evans

2014

Public Underst Sci

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While citizens can know scientific facts, they also have faith in science – with faith defined as a firm belief for which there is no proof. Using national public opinion surveys from twelve nations from 1993 to 2010, I examine three different types of faith in science that citizens could hold. I examine temporal changes in levels of faith in science as well as the social determinants of each type of faith. I focus on the implications of these levels of faith for the transhumanist movement, which is particularly dependent on faith in science. I find that two of three types of faith in science are on the rise across the West, and that the social determinants of these types of faith suggest particular challenges for the transhumanist movement.

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Section: The Religiousmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faith in science in global perspective: Implications for transhumanism

Evans

2014

Public Underst Sci

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“…More recently, philosopher Nick Bostrom has been discussing the risks of super-intelligent agents emerging from AI research (Bostrom, 2012). Robert M. Geraci has aptly named this strand of beliefs "Apocalyptic AI," Page 20 of 26 showing that the thinking machines promised by AI provided fertile ground to re-cast religious dreams of purity, perfection, and immortality, auspicating the "victory of intelligent computation over the forces of ignorance and inefficiency," reaching computer-generated heavens (Geraci, 2008) interactions between individuals and machines increase collective intelligence to unprecedented levels. The web is seen as a "global brain" which can bring humans to a new level of consciousness (Heylighen, 2004).…”

Section: Conclusion: the Rise And Persistence Of The Ai Mythmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, Robert Geraci (2008) has argued for the presence of striking resemblance between the AI myth and religious thinking. Studies in religion and media studies have shown that religious belief and practices not only coexists with skepticism, but may even require it (Taussig, 1998;Walker, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Imagining the thinking machine: Technological myths and the rise of artificial intelligence

2017

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This article discusses the role of technological myths in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies from 1950s to the early 1970s. It shows how the rise of AI was accompanied by the construction of a powerful cultural myth: the creation of a thinking machine, which would be able to perfectly simulate the cognitive faculties of the human mind. Based on a content analysis of articles on Artificial Intelligence published in two magazines, the Scientific American and the New Scientist, which were aimed at a broad readership of scientists, engineers, and technologists, three dominant patterns in the construction of the AI myth are identified: (1) the recurrence of analogies and discursive shifts, by which ideas and concepts from other fields were employed to describe the functioning of AI technologies; (2) a rhetorical use of the future, imagining that present shortcomings and limitations will shortly be overcome; (3) the relevance of controversies around the claims of AI, which we argue should be considered as an integral part of the discourse surrounding the AI myth.

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“…For these visionaries, the posthuman Mechanical Age will come about after an irreversible turning point—the Singularity—will commence as a result of exponential, accelerated process of technological progress. As Geraci succinctly explains, Singularity is “a point of the graph of progress where explosive growth occurs in a blink of an eye” when machines “become sufficiently smart to start teaching themselves” (Geraci 2008, 149). When this happens, “the world will irrevocably shift from the biological to the mechanical” and the Mechanical Age will inaugurate the New Kingdom, the Virtual Kingdom.…”

Section: Posthumanism and Transhumanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transhumanism as a Secularist Faith

Tirosh‐Samuelson

2012

Zygon

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In the second half of the twentieth century, humanism— namely, the worldview that underpinned Western thought for several centuries—has been severely critiqued by philosophers who highlighted its theoretical and ethical limitations. Inspired by the emergence of cybernetics and new technologies such as robotics, prosthetics, communications, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology, there has been a desire to articulate a new worldview that will fit the posthuman condition. Posthumanism is a description of a new form of human existence in which the boundaries between humans and nature and humans and machines are blurred, as well as a prescription for an ideal situation in which the limitations of human biology are transcended, replaced by machines. The transition from the human condition to the posthuman condition will be facilitated by transhumanism, the project of human enhancement that will ultimately yield the transformation of the human species from the human to the posthuman. As an intellectual movement, transhumanism is still very small, but transhumanist ideas exert deep and broad influence on contemporary culture and society. This essay highlights the religious dimension of transhumanism and argues that it should be seen as a secularist faith: transhumanism secularizes traditional religious themes, concerns, and goals, while endowing technology with religious significance. Science‐Religion Studies is the most appropriate context to explore the cultural significance of transhumanism.

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Apocalyptic AI: Religion and the Promise of Artificial Intelligence

Cited by 135 publications

References 24 publications

Faith in science in global perspective: Implications for transhumanism

Faith in science in global perspective: Implications for transhumanism

Imagining the thinking machine: Technological myths and the rise of artificial intelligence

Transhumanism as a Secularist Faith

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