As AI advances, don’t panic, but don’t ignore
During Pope Leo XIV’s four-day visit to France, he was asked by reporters to share his thoughts on what the United States and China should do to prevent artificial intelligence from acting independently in a way that would threaten our everyday existence. He was very direct in his response, stating, “We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen.” This reiterates the strong stance Leo emphasized in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” back in May. It’s clear he is deeply concerned about the lack of government regulation for AI companies and is skeptical of relying on human oversight for this advanced technology; however, he doesn’t think we should be overly frightened just yet. “If someone were to ask me, ‘Am I in panic mode?’ No, I’m not. I sleep at night,” Leo said, (but) “I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously.”
This statement reminded me of a major point that comedian Chuck Nice made in his 2018 TED Talk titled “A funny look at the unintended consequences of technology.” Using intuitive, discerning humor, Nice refers to past and current technology authorities who have warned us about AI’s potential dangers: “Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Bill Gates have all gone on record expressing grave reservations about artificial intelligence.” Gates recently reiterated his position on “Meet the Press.” “AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that (could) cause a billion deaths,” Gates explains to NBC’s Kristen Welker, conveying unease that many people with wicked intentions have access “to the latest AI tools.” In the 2024 PBS NewsHour segment “Experts debate level of threat AI advances pose to humanity,” a reference is made to Karel Capek’s 1920 science fiction play “Rossum’s Universal Robots”; PBS correspondent Paul Solman states that for more than 100 years, “people have been imagining that the robots will become sentient and destroy us.” Jerry Kaplan, a renowned futurist and computer scientist whom Solman interviews, agrees and emphasizes that the real danger is what humans can maliciously do with AI. Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist also featured in this report, implied that we shouldn’t be so fearful and that our chances of being wiped out are a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. Frankly, that’s not advice I’d trust.
As AI continues to develop, we will have more conversations about its existential threat to us. Going back to Nice’s talk, he offers a shrewd illustration: Creation always rebels against its creator. “Lucifer against Jehovah” is his first example. He then explains that “we are actually teaching machines how to think, how to understand our behavior, how to defend themselves and even practice deception.” “What could possibly go wrong?” he asks with a smirk. Well, we know that there are endless possibilities for what could go wrong, and I have often reflected on Nice’s creation example. I believe that we are created in the image of God, and with His image, we are brilliant, innovative and endowed with unique gifts for a divine purpose. Isaiah 11:2 lists the attributes of God’s Spirit that include wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge, sacred characteristics that AI will never possess. Because God’s workmanship in us is “marvelous,” it’s truly unfortunate that some are locked into abusing AI technology in ways that could cause irreparable harm. Also, as humans oversee AI, I think fears about what scientists call “the alignment problem” are valid: AI’s objectives may no longer benefit us or serve our well-being.
It’s hard to tell how many people are taking the pope’s warnings about AI to heart, but we need to pay more attention to this technology, as it has already heavily infiltrated almost every facet of our lives. I, too, am determined not to panic and lose sleep at night, but I will remain vigilant.
Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at Ohio State University’s Lima campus. Email her at smojc.jj@gmail.com.