Technological Revolution and its Echoes of Religious Fervor: Examination of escalating spiritualized language in technological advancements

In the bustling tech scene of Silicon Valley, AI has become a beacon of hope and innovation. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has referred to his company's technology as a "magic intelligence in the sky," reflecting the growing excitement surrounding AI. However, as AI technology advances and investment dollars flow in, concerns about its unregulated development have surfaced.

Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the "Godfather of AI," has voiced his apprehensions about uncontrolled AI. After leaving his job at Google in 2023, Hinton began speaking publicly about his concerns, joining a chorus of voices advocating for regulation. Hinton and others have used language traditionally reserved for the divine to describe AI, which has raised eyebrows among some observers.

Max Tegmark, a physicist and machine learning researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been a vocal critic of the pseudoreligious pursuit to build an alternative God. Tegmark, who has been outspoken about the potential risks of unregulated AI, helped spearhead an open letter in 2023 calling for powerful AI labs to "immediately pause" the training of their systems. The open letter, which collected more than 33,000 signatures, including from Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, helped "mainstream the conversation" about AI safety, according to Tegmark.

Robert Geraci, a professor at Knox College, argues that the language used to describe AI's potential has not changed much since he began studying it. Geraci believes that the impressive technologies behind AI might appeal to people in Silicon Valley who have already pushed aside "ordinary approaches to transcendence and meaning."

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has a vision for a future where AI could defeat most diseases, lift billions out of poverty, and bring about a renaissance of liberal democracy. However, Tegmark warns that there are stories in religious texts and ancient Greek mythology about how when humans start playing gods, it ends badly. Tegmark thinks AI can be used as a tool to do things like cure diseases and increase human productivity, but it is imperative to stay away from the "quite fringe" race that some companies are running.

Meanwhile, Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist and author, has been predicting since the 1990s that humans will merge with technology, a concept often called transhumanism. Kurzweil believes that by 2045 we will have "multiplied our own intelligence a millionfold." However, Tegmark argues that the scientific case for transhumanist theories like Kurzweil's is not stronger than the case for a religious afterlife.

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has argued that AI could help bring about the Antichrist. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has stated that when people in the tech industry talk about building one true AI, it's almost as if they think they're creating God or something. These sentiments underscore the need for cautious and thoughtful discussions about the role of AI in our society.

In conclusion, as AI continues to advance, it is crucial to consider the potential risks and ethical implications of its unregulated development. Experts like Hinton, Tegmark, and Geraci are calling for a more measured approach, urging the tech industry to avoid the "quite fringe" race towards creating an alternative God. By engaging in open and honest conversations about AI safety, we can ensure that this revolutionary technology benefits humanity without causing unintended harm.

Technological Revolution and its Echoes of Religious Fervor: Examination of escalating spiritualized language in technological advancements