Opinion | May the Antichrist Be a Machine?

Is Antichrist going to be an individual or is Antichrist going to be a machine? Is Antichrist going to be a being that we create, or that comes by way of the issues that we’ve got created? That’s the query. I feel individuals like Peter Thiel are concerned in constructing one thing which is changing into fairly brazenly evil, I feel, changing into fairly brazenly harmful of human flourishing, harmful of nature, harmful of {our relationships}, harmful in all of the ways in which we’ve talked about. So I feel what’s fascinating with these form of billionaires who’re concerned in creating weapon methods and surveillance expertise, who’re additionally speaking from a Christian perspective — I imply, I discover that totally weird. I feel that the fixed progress of the technological system in the intervening time, the route it’s entering into, goes to result in and is already resulting in the rise of a being or beings that are very Antichrist-like of their functioning. I imply, the promise of Antichrist within the Christian story is that he or it’s a nice prophet which imitates Christ. Each spiritual believer thinks that is the brand new prophet who’s come to unite a world which is crumbling. That’s the promise that expertise is giving us in the intervening time. That’s the promise that we’re being brazenly given by the people who find themselves creating these nice superhuman intelligences, these nice beyond-human minds that they’re attempting to construct. These items are going to deliver us collectively. These items are going to resolve our drawback. These items shall be rational. These items will overcome our human passions and our destruction. These items will unite us. It’s nearly as if the technological system is coalescing. And as I say, the Silicon Valley individuals discuss brazenly about this. It’s coalescing in the direction of the creation of a being which is seen to be and is promised to be our salvation. And after they begin to speak about importing their minds into the silicon substrate, you’ve acquired successfully a form of digital Christian heresy happening. You’ve acquired Christianity with out Christ. We create heaven. We create a spot wherein we are able to stay everlasting lives. And we finally create beings which we regard as gods.