Do advances in artificial intelligence open the possibility that the Antichrist could come in the form of an AI computer?
READ TIME: 2.5 Minutes
The Danger of AI – Artificial Intelligence
AI is advancing rapidly. If you look around, it is already in our lives. You most likely use it every day! Do you do any of the following?
- Ask Siri or Alexa questions,
- Use Google Maps to direct your route to work,
- Drive a Tesla,
- Take a flight in a commercial airplane, or
- Try suggested movies or shows on Netflix?
If so, you use AI.
AI is everywhere, from healthcare, to agriculture, to retail shopping.
Yet, even those developing the technology are concerned about where it could lead. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, develops AI technologies but sees grave danger in unregulated development. He has stated that artificial intelligence is even more dangerous than nuclear weapons. Musk even warned that AI could one day become an “immortal dictator from which we can never escape.”
Despite warnings, we seem to be on the path for broad acceptance and reliance on AI, even in the military. Recently an AI pilot beat a human pilot 5-0 in F-16 dogfights in a DARPA simulation. With a drive for military superiority, this kind of performance will push AI further into combat operations and decisions. This scenario is eerily similar to the underlying doomsday story of the Terminator franchise.
But AI today is not just a science fiction plot.
With possible apocalyptic implications, could the Antichrist be an AI computer?
The AI Antichrist Theory
An AI Antichrist
With advances in AI, I have recently seen theories expressed in articles, videos, and books that suggest the Antichrist may be an AI computer. However, does an AI Antichrist fit descriptions of the Antichrist in scripture?
As an expert in AI, let’s examine how Elon Musk describes an AI dictator. “[Artificial intelligence] doesn’t have to be evil to destroy humanity. If AI has a goal and humanity just happens to be in the way, it will destroy humanity as a matter of course without even thinking about it. No hard feelings.”
This statement is crucial because it describes the nature of an AI dictator. It has no emotions. It does not hate but could decide humanity’s fate through a series of calculations to achieve a desired outcome.
For example, let’s say a government tasks a powerful AI computer with halting rising sea waters. The computer determines that the best way to accomplish its goal is to cool the atmosphere. To do so, it hacks the nuclear weapons systems and launches missiles to cause a nuclear winter. As a result, the poles refreeze, and the AI computer accomplishes its objective. As a consequence, billions die.
This may be an oversimplified example, but the point is that a computer has no emotions.
The Biblical Antichrist
In contrast to an AI dictator, the Bible describes the Antichrist in human terms, having a physical body, a family line, emotions, spiritual beliefs, and a soul.
Here are some examples:
- “uttering great boasts” Daniel 7:8
- “a despicable person” Daniel 11:21
- “he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors” Daniel 11:24
- “He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South” Daniel 11:25
- “will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know” Daniel 11:38
- “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain” Daniel 11:45
- “and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
- “And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone” Revelation 19:20
You can see from the Biblical descriptions that the Antichrist is human with a soul and a spirit. Therefore, speculations about an AI Antichrist belong in science fiction, not in any serious discussion of end-times prophecy.
However, though AI will not be the form of the Antichrist, it may have a role to play in the end-times.
Could the Antichrist Use AI?
It’s not incompatible with scripture for the Antichrist to use artificial intelligence to achieve worldwide submission without a one-world government.
In recent years we have seen systems develop operate outside of government systems that have the potential to be abused. When every phone, smart speaker (Alexa, Google Home), social media app, and web browser collect information about us, we are easily profiled. From this data, someone can know your political leanings, your personal beliefs, your spending habits, your financial condition, your unique lifestyle, and even your vices.
AI systems can even predict your behaviors and reactions. See this article about A.I. systems identifying shoplifters before they steal by examining body language. Also, see this article about China’s social credit system to see how this information is being used to both reward and punish Chinese citizens.
Already, your cellphone tracks your movements. This type of monitoring is being by Google to track COVID-19 stay at home orders. Not only that, but law enforcement is using facial recognition tracking systems via cameras that are at almost every city street corner, store, bank, and commercial building.
The Bible may even point to technology in Revelation 13:15. “And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.“
This line shows that man-made (artificial) images of the beast may have some type of embedded intelligence to identify those who do not worship the beast. Frankly, this is the only line in prophecy that may directly point to AI.
Jesus will Come Before the “Inevitable”
It is easy to get wrapped up in global conspiracies and imaginative scenarios for the end-times. Movies like The Terminator and The Matrix paint a warning about possible futures that seem more and more likely each year.
With artificial intelligence becoming ubiquitous, it is easy to see how AI computers with drone armies could take over the world. This scenario may even be the inevitable result of man creating AI in the first place.
But the Bible describes a different scenario. It describes an enraged satan empowering an empire, a leader, and a false prophet to war against the saints.
If anything, knowing the scriptures makes me realize that Christ will come before AI ever reaches its destructive potential. If you believe an AI takeover of the world is soon, take solace that Jesus is coming even sooner.