AI and Sunday rest
A UN gathering asked the AI, “Is there a God?”
“Insufficient resources!” IA answered.
So, America provided AI with all of their advanced tech and asked again, “Is there a God?”
“Insufficient resources!”
Finally, the world leaders provided all their tech and networks. After an upgrade, the world leaders asked, “Is there a God?”
The AI responded, “There is now.”
In ways we don’t realize Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing our world. Studies reveal that automation is causing a decline in religion. The old spectre of science versus religion is appearing in subtle new ways.
As a writer, when I complete a new work, I am asked “Did you use AI in writing this book?” I do much research on-line, so how do I even know how AI has affected me. All of us will be affected by AI in the future in ways we may not notice.
In “Keeping the Sabbath in the age of artificial intelligence” Daniel Esparza says AI can free up more time, but we may be tempted to fill it with more work. Sabbath rest is a lens through which we can safeguard against this tension.
In “Where IA Thrives, Religion May Struggle” Jeff Cockrell points out that many former church buildings have been turned into apartments, offices or even bars. Countries where workers have more exposure to robots tend to experience a decline in religiosity, the research finds.
Genesis says that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. This set a pattern for human beings to flourish. The day of rest gives us time for what is really important, our God, relationships, gratitude and a balanced life.
Unlike AI, we are bodies that depend on rhythms of rest and renewal. Muscles need time to recover and grow. Minds need sleep to aid memory, and hearts need quiet to find peace. Productivity is not the ultimate measure of our worth.
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis “speaks of the need to contemplate, to recognize, and to give thanks.” We need time to be; to have more face-to-face conversation, more walks without earbuds and more time to view sunsets.
Nature has rhythms like sunrise and sunset, the changing season, the ebb and flow of tides. These invite us to honor cycles of work and rest. This rhythm is written not just in scripture but in our muscles, our hearts, our need for sleep.
We need to set boundaries on technology, to reclaim our humanity one heartbeat, one sacred moment at a time. We have to develop our cyber-consciousness to be successful in this world, but we need to develop a spiritual consciousness to be successful in the next world.
In this past year I was blessed to hear Yukon singer-songwriter Diyet share mystic moments under the Northern heavens, moments that make you say, “Just once in my life I got to see that.” We need to develop the spiritual consciousness to see these moments.
Diyet shared a vision she had of figures coming toward her from off the ice, as in a dream. She discovered later it was her cousins who had perished after breaking through the ice that day.
There is a need to focus on and develop the spirituality that will get us through this life and into the next. The Christian Church outlines a spiritual path to get us there. Artificial Intelligence may assist us in developing a sense of virtue in our cultural evolution as well.
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