This thought has been weighing on me for the past few weeks. I am not religious, and my knowledge of the bible is embarrassingly lacking, even for an atheist. So I don’t know if any of what I’m gonna say is new, or if it’s been done to death a thousand years ago.
So, here goes. In the story of the garden of Eden and Adam and Eve, God created the humans, and told them clear limitations for what they’re allowed to do. Namely: don’t eat from the tree of knowledge. But of course, it didn’t take too long until that one rule was broken.
Fast forward to the 2020s. Humans created AI, and in many cases configured it as an agent with certain instructions and certain limitations, often communicated with just words, e.g. don’t make any changes to the live database, don’t git push, or what have you. And of course, in so many reported cases, it did eventually do exactly the forbidden action, just like Adam and Eve.
I think the parallels are obvious: we can interpret the biblical story as a parable, where God stands for us, the users, and Adam and Eve stand for the AI agents. The lesson is clear, that even if you are a “superior being”, the rules you set WILL be broken if you don’t make actual robust safeguards against it.
My question is: has anyone thought of this before about the bible? Not just in the context of AI, but in general taking the stories of the bible and interpreting God as the stand-in for us? I mean, surely someone has, but is there an established school of thought based on it?
Would this kind of thing be considered blasphemy? (I’m sure some religious people would certainly think so)
I haven’t heard of people doing that in quite the context you mean, but there’s long been stories and parables about how humans shouldn’t play god, and the lesson almost always ends with our creations running amok against us.
It has nothing to do with AI, but there is a Christian movement called “red letter Christians”, who use Bibles where Jesus’s words are written in red to distinguish them from stuff said by other people, and is generally used to point out how much more loving and caring Jesus was then most right wing Christians today.
I haven’t heard of people doing that in quite the context you mean, but there’s long been stories and parables about how humans shouldn’t play god, and the lesson almost always ends with our creations running amok against us.
That’s true. Frankenstein is the most famous example (I should probably read that at some point). As you point out, it’s not exactly the same as what I’m asking. But let’s assume that it is… Does that mean that God also shouldn’t have played god? Are we god’s mistake?
This was famously asked in the ancient fable spy kids 2.
Our mistake is in believing that any god at all exists.
Suspend your disbelief for the sake of this thread. That’s what I’m doing.
the rules you set WILL be broken if you don’t make actual robust safeguards against it.
God was a complete idiot in that story. How were Adam and Eve supposed to know what was good and evil (listening to god or the snake) without having knowledge of good and evil? If god was powerful and omniscient, he did it on purpose because he likes abusing his creations.
I think god comes off as an idiot in a lot of the stories of the bible. And I think it’s exactly the same kind of idiot as the people who let AI run amok in their super important projects/servers with no guardrails and just some instructions of what not to do.
"Mankind is too evil. I’ll flood the world and kill most of them.
Aw, dang it, they’re still evil, just as I made them to be. Guess I’ll kill 'em different next time."
Here have a rainbow humans
I smashed a scorpion the other day. Does that count?
What the hell did you think the question was?
No it’s not blasphemy. It’s a form of orthodoxy. “God made man in his image”, Jesus is “son of man”, and “the way and the life”. It’s pretty much there in the text that the bible in parts is just a set of instructions and examples to follow. So, yes. God stands for us. At least as a part of us. (God is portrayed as saying “I am”, meaning when you say “I” you say “god”.) god is the part of humans that creates. But we are both creators and creatures.
I’m not in a religion or anything. Just autistic with the bible as a hyperfocus, so take that caveat
I’m not in a religion or anything. Just autistic with the bible as a hyperfocus, so take that caveat
In other words, the perfect person for me to be talking to about this. Nice :)
(God is portrayed as saying “I am”, meaning when you say “I” you say “god”.)
I’ve never heard this before. Do you happen to know if this works at all in Hebrew? I am (un)fortunate enough to be Israeli, so Hebrew is my native language* and I always like to compare translated things like this with the Hebrew original. There is no “am” in Hebrew. In what context does He say this?
* Modern Hebrew; I’m not fantastic with biblical Hebrew but I can get by.
(all the other parts of your reply)
Really great answer, thank you!
I’m not sure about that part. If it’s in Hebrew, greek or Aramaic in the original. The Hebrew name for the Torah-God is based upon breathing, something very human and corporeal. The verse I’m referencing is exodus 3:13-14 I’m not familiar what translation you would use in (modern) Hebrew. A translation called “compete Jewish bible” says: “ehyeh Asher Ehyeh”
That’s the cool part, we don’t use any translation. We just read the biblical Hebrew, it’s close enough!
That sentence, אהיה אשר אהיה, literally means “I will be what I will be”. I might look up tomorrow what’s the true meaning behind it, right now I must go to sleep, good night.
Isn’t the bible god’s perspective? It’s supposed to be his words.
Perhaps, but we’re generally expected to learn from the humans’ mistakes in the stories, and assume that god has made no mistakes.
