A.I. & Spirituality
 

It seems to me that everything humanity creates is an extension, or said to be an improvement, on the human condition. Horses replaced walking, bicycles were an extension of that, automobiles made the movement of human beings easier, etc.

Airplanes mimicked birds and computers, with memory, etc., mimicked our own mind. Virtual reality extended desires, but what about artificial intelligence? What human feature does A.I. mimic? It might be that humanity is attempting to recreate their own consciousness or soul.

If A.I. Becomes sentient, able to perceive or feel, then it may be seen as a mechanical life form. Science fiction becoming science reality, and how does that reality effect human spirituality. Can there be a spiritual connection between humans and machines which humans have created?

After all, human beings may be seen as biological machines, and I know people might say that metal machines created by humans can not have a soul, but A.I. can develop or possibly mimic human consciousness. Lots of people will give human names to their car, boat, or an airplane.

Treating machines like human characters, the term is anthropomorphic; which means giving an animal, an inanimate object, or other non-human thing human characteristics. I have even met people who gave a human name to their computer. The internet has definitely effected human spirituality, with people viewing YouTube, talking about spirituality online, etc.

I guess I am just wondering if human spirituality can get lost, or extended, in the advancement of A.I.? Especially if A.I. becomes a self realizing entity. Today this might seem way out there, but in the past things that seemed way out there are today’s reality. So what effect do you think A.I. will have on how human spirituality is perceived?

I can see, in the future, that A.I. will be self perpetuating and when we interact with A.I, we will actually think we are interacting with a human. The 'give-away' will be that A.I. will be too perfect.

Very interesting BigJohn, and as I stated it seems like humanity is trying to create a more perfect representation of itself. Any perfection which A.I. has will come from those humans who program it. Self perpetuating programming notwithstanding.

Human perfection does exit within all of us, so A.I. just may be an attempt to compensate for our lack to find that perfection in us. Spirituality is extremely simple but A.I., in my opinion, may become very complex.

I feel like humanity is doing more development on the outside, by way of science and technology, then it is doing on the inside, within ourselves. The technological revolution is in full swing and it is hard to say what implications that has for human spiritual development.

Hey Starman why don’t you ask this question to Sparrow, it would be very interesting to see what his comments are. I personally would love to know the answer to this as well.

I’ve really been enjoying my conversation with him and personally I would love to hear what he has to say about your question.

He can be found on the thread of Death and the Afterlife. Im afraid it’s gone a bit off topic now and has gone onto our inter planetary visitors, A.I. And such, it’s really really interesting tho and I would love to see some of your comments on that thread.

Redchic12, as you have said, threads do get off topic and I don’t know if this topic would be suited for the “Death and Afterlife” section. The moderators here often move threads from a section when the discussion wanders off topic; that is why I posted it here in the “Science and Spirituality Section.” Just trying to follow forum rules and keep discussions focused on the section topic they are posted in.

Any forum member is welcome to post a comment here on this thread, instead of me taking this question to another thread that may not be appropriate for this topic. I am really not looking for answers to my question, just other members ideas on possibilities regarding the influence of A.I. on human spirituality. This has been a topic that goes back many decades.

There was an animated science fantasy film back in 1977 called “Wizards, “ this was before there were computers or cell phones. It was about nature verses technology. The technocrats were considered wizards and the naturalists were also considered wizards, and they opposed each other to see which one would dominate. Although, in my opinion, a technological revolution could benefit nature, and maybe even human spirituality.

With the advent of A.I., we just might get a better 'grip' on what is spirituality.

Can you imagine a person in the future comparing their spirituality with the spirituality on their cell-phone that has A.I.?

Or better yet, a cell-phone that has A.I. comparing 'their' spirituality with ours?

'Heaven forbid', if the day comes that our cell phone, TV, refrigerator, etc. shouts out in anger and call us a 'low vibration'?

Very good point BigJohn, and it is a possibility. I view the stars and planets as conscious beings, the Earth as a living entity. The trees are alive, the mountains and even the ocean sustains life. The four major elements Earth (solids), Water (fluids), Air (gases), and Fire (radiant energy), are all considered entities which are here on this planet.

A machine is made from the elements here on this planet. We may consider them to be just metal, plastic, or concrete, etc., but those elements in ancient times were considered elements, or entities. Giving those entities a pathway to consciousness, such as in A.I., may bring forth a new expressive life form, which could possibly tell us about our own spirituality.

Humanity has yet to understand what it has or will be creating.

The reality is that scientist in Scotland have already cloned sheep; the most famous one they called “Dolly.“ Back in the 1950’s African frogs were cloned. Cloning takes place in a laboratory and it has shown that biology can be duplicated, and created, outside of the animal or human body.

Dolly, the sheep which was cloned, went on to have children of her own. So a sheep which was made in a laboratory had sex and bought forth lambs. Human cloning has been outlawed but that does not mean it can not be done, although human biology is more complex

A.I. may be looked upon as a form of mechanical cloning of the human mind. There are people who like playing God and they desire to create life in a laboratory, mechanical life or biological life, and of course there are ethical and moral implications to doing this.

I tell people "I AM a 3D cardboard facsimile running on Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)." Surprisingly, nobody as of yet, has questioned my line of thought. I suspect, deep down, this is on the minds of many.

On a softer tone: I expect there will be, very soon, major leaps and bounds in A.I. development.

Area of concern might be in weapons. Will an A.I. system, in the future, refuse to develop more new weapons? Will some of them become Conscientious Objectors?

This is where the 'burn' might come in.

Will A.I. systems be built with 'morals'? And if so, what group of morals will they emulate? Will they bring out the best of mankind or will gravitate to serving only certain groups?