On Feb. 2, Business Insider wrote, “ChatGPT may come in for our jobs.” Jobs listed include software developers, journalists, teachers, and accountants. Some believe that humans must merge with machines in order not to become irrelevant in the age of artificial intelligence. Some fear these developments; others believe it is an opportunity to transcend mortality itself.
Elon Musk is a pioneer in merging human and artificial intelligence. In 2019 he said:
We won’t be smarter than a digital supercomputer, so join them if you can’t beat them.
Musk has developed a brain implant through his company Neuralink. The implant, he promises, will make the paralyzed walk, see the blind, and eventually turn people into cyborgs — but it’s currently held up by regulations. The long-term goal is a “digital super intelligence layer” that connects people with artificial intelligence.
Live forever? The ability to control robotic limbs with your own brain is fascinating. Some believe that these and other technologies will allow men to extend their lives or even live forever. But Musk says, “It’s important for us to die because most of the time people don’t change their minds, they just die.” If you live forever, we could become a very ossified society where new ideas don’t thrive.”
Others have a different attitude. Futurist Tom Cheesewright told the Daily Star, “As a sci-fi fan, I’m very excited about the prospect of living forever, either as a robot or in virtual reality.” Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, invested Reportedly into an anti-aging research startup in Silicon Valley.
Experts are exploring ways in which artificial intelligence can confer a kind of digital immortality by preserving the personality of the deceased in virtual form and then allowing it to evolve.
– Wall Street Journal
A Counterfeit: We should watch these developments closely because they are a counterfeit of what God is doing. As the late Herbert W. Armstrong explained in What Science Cannot Discover About the Human Mind, there is already a nonphysical component connected to our brain. It is the very source of our intellect. This component “preserves the personality” of people, as promised by modern technology, and serves as a bridge between mortality and immortality.
Job 32:8 reveals, “But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding.” This distinguishes us from animals. It explains our superior intellect and why God is able to raise people up to matter (Ezekiel 37) or to spirit when combined with God’s Holy Spirit (Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 15).
But God has set conditions for receiving the Holy Spirit and eternal life. He warned Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). The first people rebelled, as Mr. Armstrong wrote: “God ‘cast the man’ out of the Garden of Eden and barred his re-entry—lest he go back and have eternal life in sin (Genesis 3:22-24)—God’s spoken phrase !“ (Secret of the times).
Man can never develop a godly character unless he willingly submits to God—that is the condition of receiving eternal life. If you are interested in how God will bridge the gap between mortality and immortality, request a free copy of What Science Can’t Discover About the Human Mind.
