My View of Artificial Intelligence

(Minghui.org) The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) in November 2022 and the release of the newer version (GPT-4) in March 2023 shocked the world at how fast artificial intelligence (AI) has developed.

Millions of people are excited to explore what this new technology can bring us, but there are those who feel alarmed and worried about what it will mean for human society. They raise serious warnings that human civilization has come to an unprecedented turning point. Top AI experts have published an open letter calling on global AI labs to stop developing AI in the next six months in order to better understand this technology.

Compared to the limited knowledge that a human being can absorb during one’s entire lifetime, AI bots could be equipped with endless skills and knowledge. They could be the experts in every field, including writing, music, art, programming, medical diagnosis, customer service, cultural differences in language expression, and so on.

Because of the ability to quickly access huge amounts of data across many fields and analyze it, as well as the ability to “learn” from human learning abilities, AI bots are now able to complete many huge daily tasks that are impossible for humans.

For example, with ChatGPT, if you show it a picture of the contents of a refrigerator, it can tell what’s in the refrigerator and recommend meal plans, including how to cook the meals. It can also solve a variety of challenging high-school olympiad problems and even pass bar exams.

A Spiritual Cultivator’s View

I remember that during the 1990s, there was a sudden emergence of clones, which led to the birth of the sheep Dolly. Many experts worried about that technology being used to clone humans. But with the government ban on the cloning of human embryos, the technology soon disappeared from the public eye.

The introduction of AI made me wonder if this was another form of cloning technology. Clones simply replace humans one by one, while AI bots are capable of controlling many human beings at the same time, which could be far more efficient and thorough than biological clones.

In terms of ability, there is no doubt that one day, AI bots could become much more “capable” than humans. Although the human body is created by the divine, the majority of our brains are restricted in order to protect us from committing major crimes and destroying ourselves. That is the only way our civilization can be sustained long enough while we wait for the final salvation by the Creator.

After all, as Master pointed out in “How Humankind Came To Be,” man is created and protected by the divine. Despite clones or AI bots, humans are irreplaceable. We don’t have to be fearful or be tempted. We should keep our compassion and righteous thoughts, stay rational, and fulfill our roles and mission.

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)