Thought for Today
Micah 7:5 Put no trust in a friend, have no confidence in a loved one; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace; 6 for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; your enemies are members of your own household. 7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
Matthew 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
Before AI became a ubiquitous word, permeating almost every topic in our lives, I found Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:35-36 puzzling. Until I read the devotional for today in These Days, I had never thought to read those verses as a reflection on Micah 7:5-7. As I read that devotional this morning, I began to think about the correspondence between the geo-political environment Micah encountered and the one Jesus encountered. I did research several commentaries in my library and consult several Bibles for footnotes linking the world of Micah with the world Jesus entered.
As all of this percolated in my mind, I began to wonder whether Qoheleth might have been onto something, “Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” I often find myself waffling between agreement and disagreement. I’ve referenced that verse 4 times so far this year. I’ve agreed and disagreed in almost each reference.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), is new . . . or, is it? Currently, it is somewhat difficult to read a newspaper, hear a newscast or read a magazine without encountering some reference to AI. AI is already being incorporated into advertisements for many products. I have yet to encounter an ad for toothpaste claiming to incorporate AI, but such claims may not be too far into our future.
Yet, in my early teens, I read a plethora of science fiction books and stories about sentient machines conquering the world and even the universe. Later in my life, I watched movies like The Matrix and Terminator. AI, ‘thinking’ machines are the essential element in all such stories. So, long before the desktop, laptop or tablet computers were a reality, long before smartphones existed other than in Dick Tracey, the concept of AI existed.
For many of us, the most frightening aspect of the current iteration of AI is its use coupled with digital imaging. Hollywood has harnessed technology to incorporate deceased actors seeming to act in current movies. How are we to know the truth of anything we see or hear? How are we to evaluate one claim against another? Is our modern age of CGI and AI something new under the sun?
I don’t think that either Micah or Jesus were directly warning against the pitfalls of CGI and AI. I do not believe it is the potential for misleading, deceiving and manipulating God’s children that is the danger. It is a danger, but not the danger of divisiveness against which we are being warned.
The entire Bible is set against the background of human divisiveness. “Genesis 4:2 . . . Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.” Even before that we find gender divisiveness, “Genesis 3:12 The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’" The freed Egyptian slaves were challenged, “Joshua 24:15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
I have heard it said somewhat ironically that you can divide the world into people who divide everything into 2 contrasting categories and those who don’t. Is division somehow part of our human DNA?
I find my own comfort in this divided world in Jesus’ words, “John 8:31 . . . "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Free of doubt. Free from divisiveness.
Stay safe, listen to Jesus, trust God,
Pastor Ray