“Man thinks he can become God. But infinitely greater than that is the fact that God thought of becoming human.”
This is how John Lennox begins his exploration in 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity. It’s a simple yet profound definition which suggests that AI is not just about machines doing work, but about machines doing human work. That’s where the conversation begins, and perhaps, where it becomes most troubling.
AI is a tool, not a god. Use it like one.
We’ve survived the countless inventions of humanity, the hammer, the sword, the tank – not by worshipping them, but by guiding them. AI should be no different.
The moment we treat AI like an all-knowing oracle, by outsourcing our thinking or decision-making, or even morality in the name of “objectivity”, we lose control and our identity. Perhaps we should just keep the steering wheel in human hands
The goal of AI should be to elevate humanity, not to replace it.
We didn’t invent fire, but in our discovery, we learned to stay warm and then we used it to build civilization. AI should follow the same pattern: its purpose is to assist us, expand us, push us forward, but never erase humans from the equation.
AI can do busy work and heavy lifting, but why and for what purpose? Even in manual labor, people will reason why they’re lifting in the first place. There’s a purpose to work, even when we don’t understand it. Too much AI work and curation could end in a possible future which is like Idiocracy: a world which has led us to remove any sense of urgency to grow, to learn, to question, to explore. Lennox suggests that if AI is built to do our thinking or deciding for us, then it will lead us into apathy rather than the threat of oppression. It will bring us into a world where both our humanity and wisdom beyond ourselves is forgotten.
Human intelligence is multi-modal.
We don’t just calculate and compare. We see, hear, smell, touch. We have feelings. We imagine. We suffer. We collaborate and we wonder. The best discoveries come from wonder beyond ourselves, like the collision of logic and senses. These are not created within the neat lines of code or pattern matching that we can find in AI.
Though many fear that artificial general intelligence (AGI) could become reality and that the machines could turn the tables to have humanity working for it (rather people using AI), we do not. Ironically, this very notion requires a lust for power and ambition that is found within the flaws of human emotion and experience. It is more likely that different humans (from corporations or nation states) will use AI to control other humans (i.e. the masses).
AI can be fast to match, repeat and automate many tasks.
Humans can be creative and seek wisdom. We even forsake the physical world for the hope of a future outcome. That’s our real advantage which can’t be trained into an algorithm. Humans have an innate conscience with a fairly common sense of right and wrong.
Life is more than a task. Purpose is the point.
A machine completes tasks, such as determining the best move or even creating the perfect system. However, humans live with meaning (even when we don’t see it). Whether for ourselves or for another, we build and break, forgive and dream. We worship and we wonder.
Some thinkers, like physicist Sean Carroll, argue that humans are just "blobs of organized mud" or lucky accidents of blind processes. But this reductionist view strips away the mystery and dignity of our existence. This doesn’t account for the common experience of dreams and realized hopes that defy logic. Let alone the implication that we are then the gods of our own creation (as to AI).
CS Lewis offered a better vision: that we are reflections, not creators, of the divine. We can strive to be more, but we must also admit we are not, and never will be, God. Our own humility is essential, especially in the age of AI. If there’s one thing that observable science has taught us, we don’t even know what we don’t know (i.e., chaos theory or even unintended consequences). Somehow, each person is more than the sum of their actions and words.
Machines can mimic intelligence. They can simulate emotions. But they do not know suffering. They do not love. They cannot believe. These are not bugs in human software, they’re the very things that make us human and add depth to our experience. Don’t let efficiency erase depth.
Final Thoughts: The Future Is Not Written
All these ideas and concerns are summarized as – Can AI that surpasses human capabilities and takes our place be created? Why should we continue to learn when AI seems to make our knowledge insignificant?
AI will shape our future; that is inevitable. But what that future looks like is still up to us. There’s no doubt that AI will “know" more information than any human. But humans are not just “blobs of organized mud,” we are so much more. We are an intelligent creation with mind, body, senses, feelings, and soul. We are much deeper than just a brain, words or actions. Let us use AI as a platform to lift our intelligence beyond, to the stars. Let us not become like the world of Idiocracy, lulled into ignorance by convenience. Let us not be so enchanted by progress that we forget our purpose. The machines may be learning fast, but it’s up to us to ensure that we don’t forget what it means to live in wisdom.
Lennox’s 2084 is not a fear-mongering warning. It’s a call to thoughtful engagement. A challenge to remember who we are, and whose we are. AI can help us — but only if we remember what we are meant to be.
Lennox, John C. 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity. Zondervan, 2020.
