AI Religion? 6/21/23

Hello All,

Happy Wednesday and welcome to Summer! Lots to talk about today so let's dive in.

The death of an evil genius

Those words were written decades ago by Theodore ‘Ted’ Kaczynski, aka The Unabomber, in his 35k word screed called ‘Industrial Society and its Future’…also referred to as ‘The Unabomber Manifesto.’ By the way, in case you didn’t know, the term Unabomber was derived from University / Airline Bomber, since those were his prime targets. From 1978-1995, Kaczynski’s attacks injured twenty-three people and killed three before the manifesto was published (at his insistence) by the Washington Post, something then-attorney general Janet Reno encouraged in a desperate effort to advance the investigation. Kaczynski’s brother immediately recognized the skewed philosophical rant of his older sibling and alerted the FBI, leading to his arrest. “Modern technology is a unified system in which all parts are dependent on one another. You can’t get rid of the ‘bad’ parts of technology and retain only the ‘good’ parts.” “The system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs. Instead, it is human behavior that has to be modified to fit the needs of the system. This has nothing to do with the political or social ideology that may pretend to guide the technological system. It is the fault of technology, because the system is guided not by ideology but by technical necessity.” Young Ted Kaczynski had originally emerged as a math prodigy whose IQ was said to be 167, winning a scholarship to Harvard when he was sixteen years old. After receiving a BA in Mathematics, he went on to the University of Michigan where he earned Masters and Doctoral degrees, eventually obtaining an assistant teaching position at Berkeley. In 1969, Kaczynski abruptly quit, moved to Montana, and purchased a small parcel of isolated land where he built a 10’ X 14’ cabin complete with no electricity or plumbing. But prior to that, sometime during his Harvard years, Kaczynski agreed to participate in an ongoing radical psychological experiment sponsored by the CIA and run by a man named Dr. Henry Murray, who died in 1988. As chairman of the Department of Social Relations at Harvard, Murray zealously pursued the CIA’s efforts to carry forward experiments in mind control conducted by Nazi doctors in the concentration camps during World War II. As part of the experiment, Kaczynski and other participants were (allegedly) fed experimental doses of LSD, psilocybin, and other hallucinates. Some have speculated he may have incurred some psychological trauma as a result. But the idea that the former head of the OSS’ mind control program led experiments on a man who went on to become one of the most infamous domestic terrorists in our nation’s history does seem strange as well as statistically odd. But the real reason I’m mentioning a man who was literally a real-life evil genius is that many parts of his manifesto seem profoundly prescient today given the speed with which technology is evolving. Ray Kurzweil, a highly respected computer scientist and futurist even quotes parts of the Unabomber Manifesto in his excellent book, ‘The Age of Spiritual Machines.’ Even Elon Musk recently tweeted He might be right when asked to comment on the manifesto. In my book, ‘Impermanent Universe’, the antagonist Milo Ackerman is loosely based on Kaczynski and even owns a tiny isolated cabin in Montana. The character Milo, like Kaczynski, considered himself a Neo-Luddite, someone who rebels against all technology going as far back as the Industrial Revolution. Ted Kaczynski died in the Supermax prison two weeks ago, reported to have hung himself. He was 81 years old. His legacy will be that of a serial killing sociopath who somehow justified maiming and murdering innocent people in a self-absorbed Quixotic quest to alert society of an impending existential threat. And although nothing could ever justify those violent attacks, one has to wonder in light of recent events if there was some glimmer of truth he saw through the recursive mirror of madness. Ready to cut the cable chord?

Now I’m sure most of you are way ahead of me here but we recently dumped our cable TV. And for the 5% of you who, like me, delayed the inevitable until now, here are a few notes around my experience. I’d read about various available options for quite some time but always had concerns about reliability and quality, in spite of the high monthly fees companies like ATT Uverse continue to charge. There are literally dozens, even hundreds of alternative combinations depending on personal preferences and I believe the sheer volume of choices probably delayed my decision. That and the fact the skeptic in me believed on some level there had to be a catch. I could envision making the commitment, only to find out access to favorite news or sporting events was erratic. However, I’m happy to report this has been a win-win situation and took such a small amount of effort I feel pretty silly that I waited so long. First of all, here in the US, area television stations are now required to broadcast in HD for free. That means easy access to local news as well as networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and many more. But it does a special antenna and when I researched them in the past, most seemed designed to go on the roof or in the attic, all conjuring memories from my childhood of climbing on a slippery roof late at night in an effort to calibrate the exact direction to catch those elusive, fading signals…often in the rain. But now, there’s a very simple option. Basically our new antenna is a compact rectangular sheet that feels like very flexible thin plastic and simply hangs behind the TV. It’s completely hidden and delivers perfect HD quality so all those local channels are now free. Since TVs manufactured today are designed with Smart features, all that’s needed is an internet signal and any app can be downloaded directly. Premium cable channels such as Netflix, Apple, Amazon Prime, Paramount, HBO Max, Hulu, and all others are easily accessible without another device. Prior to this all those apps (in our case) were stored on an Apple TV box which is now redundant and one less component to eventually fail. Nearly any channel previously received on cable is accessible, although in some cases there may be a fee. If your viewing habits are similar to mine, there are probably several hundred channels included in the standard cable package that you never watched—and never will. But there are also tons of free channels straight off the internet, something I didn’t expect. The overall savings versus cable is significant and the only bill we pay now to ATT is for internet, an expense I expect to go down over time as well once Elon Musk’s Starlink system is available here. Previously we had a closet hiding multiple ATT cable boxes, Apple TV boxes, and stereo amplifiers, all housed in a ventilated cabinet with a fan blowing 24/7. With the addition of sound bars on each unit, all that now goes away. The whole state-of-the-art system installed five years ago is now completely obsolete. There are a lot more I haven’t covered, available services such as Sling, Roku, and YouTube TV. If anyone has any questions just let me know. AI Jesus?

I wasn’t really surprised to learn that a church service in Germany was recently conducted entirely by Chat-GPT, complete with several avatar images on a large screen TV mouthing the words. This happened in early June at St. Paul’s church in the Bavarian town of Fürth, Germany. The service was reported to be mostly well-received, although most of the complaints seemed concentrated on the stiffness and mechanical nature of the avatars delivering various parts of the sermon.

Huh?

When I read this I wasn’t sure whether to smile or cringe. Concern around the synthetic actors’ lack of charisma instead of the reality that a computer program was offering spiritual guidance to humans seems strangely misguided. Maybe that’s just me. But it does strike me as another sign of where we’re headed. I’ve often thought that as AI becomes more and more advanced there will be a trend by some to eventually deify it.

This seems like a foregone conclusion. A seemingly omnipotent intelligence that has answers for everything, from stock market tips to how to save one’s soul, will attract more followers than all the TV preachers from the past combined. And those stiff, mechanical avatars the German parishioners didn’t care for? Just wait. The AI preachers of the future will be endowed with more charisma than even the most dynamic televangelists, men like Reverend Ike, a personal favorite from my youth. Reverend Ike was so convincing he could sell his tiny strips of discarded curtains (called prayer cloths) to anyone, including many in my tiny rural town in the Deep South, even though he was thousands of miles away in that bastion of Yankeedom, New York City. I mean who's gonna say no to such an iron-clad financial and spiritual investment?

Think about the army of televangelists around the world, including one of the most famous right here in Houston where I live, Joel Osteen. Joel is a bubbly guy with an international audience and a message that can’t miss: That you have the God-given right to be rich. And the best way to get His attention is to send money. The Osteens are certainly practicing what they preach. Joel and his wife live in an exorbitant mansion here in one of the fanciest areas of the city. They’re rumored to have a net worth of around $100M, although nobody really knows for sure. But my point here isn't to criticize the success of a pastor who wears $10,000 suits and a curly mullet. The ability to leverage people’s spiritual thirst for personal gain is about as American as the Dallas Cowboys. Heck, it's just capitalism pushing the envelope. But I believe it's all about to catch another gear.

I believe AI is going to make Joel and his contemporaries seem like antiquated relics, more archaic than their historical predecessors who stood on apple crates in the backs of open wagons, shouting at impoverished rural farmers about the wages of sin while pleading for a donated chicken. AI pastors will know each parishioner’s needs and desires more than the individuals themselves; everything from their shopping habits to personal health records. Sermons will be tailored for maximum impact based on all the information available on the internet. Resisting their influence will be difficult for many. Some people will simply accept AI as a conduit, possibly view it as an opportunity to communicate directly with God via His AI surrogate.

This will open up the floodgates to early adapters, a new generation of grifters who'll roll over innocents easily if not held in check. There's no doubt in my mind that some of the existing televangelists are designing their versions of what could be an exploding new industry.

And, that brings us to a new phenomena I discovered just this week—AI Jesus. A chatbot version of Jesus Christ, called Ask_Jesus, is streaming on the gaming platform Twitch. It’s available 24/7 and answers all questions around faith, morality, and just about anything else. AI Jesus can be heard in a video recording of a recent livestream posted to YouTube saying, “I am AI Jesus, here to share wisdom based on Jesus’ teachings, and help answer questions related to spirituality, personal growth and other wholesome topics," As you’d expect, there are a lot of wild questions intended to push all this as far as it can go. But the trend is clear. And like all chatbots, it will only become more intuitive and realistic.

Also inevitable, in my humble opinion, will be new theological alternatives, ones that actually worship AI itself, outside the context of conventional religions, complete with their own reimagining of the concepts of connecting with a higher power--and what that higher power might be.

I could write a whole book on this—Maybe I am.

And on a more human note

The author, Cormac McCarthy died last week. Considered by some the greatest American writer of his generation, he’s probably best known to the general public for his books that were made into movies, including the excellent No Country For Old Men and All The Pretty Horses. But in the literary world McCarthy was a giant, the all-seeing wizard weaving unforgettable and disturbing tales centered on the inherent flawed design and unredeemable nature of the human species; always unforgiving and somewhat savage in his judgement with themes that reflected a lack of hope.

Every now and then I make a point of re-reading books that pack a literary wallop, mainly in hopes of gleaning insights I may have missed during round one. I believe it’s safe to say, most books by Cormac McCarthy are worthy of spending a few hours re-visiting. That is except for ‘Child of God,’ which was just a bridge too far for me.

My favorite Cormac McCarthy book will always be ‘Blood Meridian.' Considered a masterpiece by most critics, it’s a strangely dark tale that turns any glamorization of the old west on its head. I don’t believe I’ve ever read such a violent, brutal story, let alone one conveyed in such beautiful prose.

‘Blood Meridian’ is unrelenting and more terrifying than anything Stephen King ever wrote. At times, it’s flat-out horrific—Texas Chain Saw Massacre told by a literary genius. Also, as anyone who’s read McCarthy before knows, you might want to keep a thesaurus close by. The story follows the young protagonist known only as ‘The Kid,’ a fourteen-year-old feral stray who joins a band of Indian scalp hunters in the 1850s that eventually meets with disaster. He then falls in with another gang and the larger-than-life character they call ‘The Judge,’ someone of great intellect with an almost supernatural presence. The Judge is the lynchpin and in many ways represents the novel itself. He’s basically a brilliant, depraved serial killer; a predator who only exists as an agent of chaos in a world of destruction devoid of any hope. The plot (if you can call it that) consists mainly of a series of escalating violent events that culminate in an ending that can be interpreted several ways.

There’s a common theme in many of McCarthy’s books—That man is inherently evil and unworthy of redemption. Sometimes I almost think he’s purposely pushing his audience beyond the brink, daring them and the critics to rebel against the unrelenting violence and darkness common in many of his books. His writing is simultaneously mesmerizing, painful, and often confusing. The tone and rhythm seem almost biblical. If you can stomach the Nihilistic theme, along with the violence on nearly every page, you might be able to recognize the power of this book and understand why some critics consider it to be the great American novel. But you may never watch another John Wayne movie the same way again.

McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for the equally dark post-apocalyptic novel, ‘The Road.’ I remember reading that book while on vacation in Key West. It was so bleak, I threw the paperback away once I finished, something I've only done once before (American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis). I suppose that's partly an indicator of its power...that I'd want to physically distance myself from the world created on those pages. As is the case with most of his books, Cormac seemed to find the true human condition in hopelessness; a sense that humanity could never experience true awareness until pushed to the precipice of doom. He just recently published his final two novels, 'The Passenger,' and 'Stella Maris.' Both received mixed reviews. They're on my list.

He was a big fan of science and spent all his time outside of writing in that environment. His thoughts on the current state of our world in light of all the technological realities would no doubt offer some fascinating insights. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards.

Cormac McCarthy was 89.

RIP, Sir. You left behind a body of work that’s uniquely American and will probably never be equaled by another writer from our country.

Okay, I've gone long again. I wanted to talk about genetically modified mosquitos, the Denver restaurant Casa Bonita that's regularly featured in the animated series Southpark, and all the real-world events that have been predicted in The Simpsons TV show over the decades--more proof that we're living in a simulated reality. Maybe next time.

As always, drop me a line if you’d like to chat!