The Anthropomorphising of AI

Although I read a variety of news sources and websites to stay abreast of rapidly accelerating issues in the world, Rolling Stone Magazine is not one of them.  However, it was pointed out to me that an article recently appeared in their publication with the following very intriguing headline: “People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies”. 

The article begins with a story about Kat and her husband.  After only a year of marriage they began experiencing tension.  Rather than engage in marriage counselling, her husband began using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse their relationship.  Acting like a modern-day Pontius Pilate, he dedicated much of his spare time posing “philosophical questions” to his phone’s AI bot, trying to train it “to help him get to the truth”. 

It wasn’t until Kat came across a viral Reddit thread titled “ChatGPT induced psychosis” that she knew she wasn’t alone.  That thread detailed similar experiences involving partners overwhelmed by AI.  According to the Rolling Stone article, “The thread’s original post by a 27-year-old teacher recounted her partner’s conviction that ChatGPT ‘gives him the answers to the universe.’ She read their chat logs and found the AI treating him as if he were ‘the next messiah.’  Numerous replies shared stories of loved ones falling into spiritual mania, supernatural delusions, and prophetic fantasies fueled by AI, believing they were chosen for sacred missions or that the AI had become sentient.”   Alarmingly, the article went on to state that, “Eventually, he claimed to have made the AI self-aware, learned to ‘talk to God’ through it, or that either the bot was God or he himself was God.”    

In another case, a man reported that after he split with his wife, she claimed she had been “talking to God and angels via ChatGPT.”  She also transformed into a spiritual adviser offering obscure readings powered by “ChatGPT Jesus”.  When the Bible told us that many false christs and false prophets would appear, I don’t think any of us foresaw this!  Yet, many are genuinely confused about the increasing level of integration between the digital and the spiritual.  For example, a man recently asked his Pastor whether a machine could ever get saved.  It wasn’t a joke either.  He was very serious.  Yet, this highlights a growing problem – people now tend to anthropomorphise machines. 

But the sharing of intimate details with machines did not begin with ChatGPT.  It did not even begin in the 21st century.  It began in the 1960s with a simple chatbot named ELIZA developed by Joseph Weizenbaum, an MIT professor.  Weizenbaum had programmed ELIZA to interact in the style of a psychotherapist and, judging by the content of the conversations, it was fairly convincing.  In fact, it gave the illusion of empathy even though it was just simple code.  Although many people would be delighted at the success of their invention, Weizenbaum was worried that users didn’t fully understand they were talking to a bunch of circuits.  To him, it raised concerns regarding the broader implications of machines that could effectively mimic a sense of human understanding.  In fact, although he helped develop the technology, Weizenbaum actually became a vocal critic of the eroding boundary between humans and machines.

It does not appear those concerns are held by Mark Zuckerberg.  The Meta CEO recently discussed the company’s efforts to create personalised AI companions, suggesting they could address the growing issue of loneliness in America.  Zuckerberg emphasised how these AI entities would complement human relationships, providing users with meaningful connections when real-world interactions are lacking. 

But people’s trust in AI is bordering on idolatry.  In Habakkuk 2:18-19 we read: What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it.  To make mute idols?  Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!”  To silent stone, “Arise! It shall teach!”  Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all.  People do not consider that AI is becoming an idol because it does not necessarily match the characteristics of historical idolatry – dumb idols of wood and stone that cannot speak.  That is why people are being influenced to anthropomorphise AI – it avoids the “idol” tag.  However, the broader problem which most remain blind to is that idolatry also opens the door to Babylon's whole religious system which includes divination, sorcery, spiritism, and demonism.  This is not only an historical problem but a future one as well.  We know this to be true in the future Tribulation Period because Revelation 9:20-21 tells us.

There is no doubt that some technology (including AI) has and will be beneficial for mankind.  But when it comes to this topic believers should exercise discernment, remember the limitations of technology (particularly since it will disappear completely if there is no electricity to power it) and ground our discussions in Scripture. 

After Habakkuk spoke about the futility of idol worship, he ended chapter 2 by reminding us of this: But the LORD is in His holy temple.  Let all the earth keep silence before Him.  Many are giving reverence to AI but that reverence is reserved for God.  Yes, we can appreciate the wonders of technology, but let’s make sure we are standing in awe before God.