Daniel and the Den of the Data Centers

Where will I draw the line with AI? I’m certain I cannot cover all the things and ways of being we are surrendering by using this technology, but something came to mind during a re-read of Daniel’s story. All the summoned magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers couldn’t see what the king had dreamed. Yet Daniel with the Holy Spirit not only could see, but had understanding.

All the conjurers of Babylon promised the king, if only they were told his dream, of course they could provide understanding. King Nebuchadnezzar’s response to his consultants is presented furiously, “You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change…”

Now at least these magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and men of astrology have some honesty I have yet to see in the AI visionaries, “What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans”.

I cannot claim to know the personal beliefs of those building AI things, but the marketing has been something like “we are building god” or “you can become like god with this technology”.

This idea of requiring prompting for producing, is as old as the Chaldeans and their celestial sightings. It is still true, that there is nothing new under the sun.1

The many questions I get from Christians regarding AI comes down to: Should a Christian use AI? How should Christians use this technology? What boundaries do we need to live in a world with this technology?

Daniel’s story provides a few inspirations worth considering:

First, God does indeed live among human beings. Those of us who have the Holy Spirit already know this, but we must live it. Everything including our dress and our speech must reflect this reality. This is why I had to leave Silicon Valley. I had become too much like what was surrounding me. Many women and men believed the gods do not live among humans. Our bodies and souls are not storage devices designed for input sensory. The mind and the heart and the gut are all antenna; organs made for the song of eternity. What we eat may not defile us2, but consumption attenuates our participation in the unseen. This is why some demons only come out with prayer and fasting3.

This leads to the second bit of inspiration from Daniel’s prophecy. We must consider our diet, not merely meals but what will we consume from technology. Daniel and his friends do in fact consume produce from the Babylonians and perhaps this technology has for us some equivalent of broccoli and beans, but we must discern and abstain from its rich carnal things. As Christians we will be called to many tables where AI is present, and as the Proverb says4, we must hold our own knife to ourselves and be diligent with our consumption, not merely in volume, but fasting from technologies delicacies. Specifically, our first boundary as Christians should be to never anthropomorphize AI or any technology to the point of being.5

Finally, we must have a sober sensibility about this technology. Considering its comparison to the atomic bomb, much fear has been spread that the new bomb in a briefcase could be a phone in a pocket. Yet every year for the past half century Japan has bombed itself with “contraception technology”6. An equivalent of the tragedies at Hiroshima or Nagasaki is committed annually. Yet no one speaks of this devastation, this war, and these casualties. We must be as innocent as doves and as wise as serpents7 like the one who was raised up in the wilderness8.

We have been chosen to receive the Holy Spirit in an age of mechanized magicians. Like Daniel we have been allowed to encounter them in our exile on this earth. Like Daniel we will be seated at tables with sorcerers. Like Daniel we must call upon the Holy Spirit to discern their misleading and wicked things. We cannot hope for the situation to change. We must hope for thy kingdom come, thy will be done, from the King of Kings.

Like Daniel we may be called to intercede for the “wise” men of our communities:

“Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream…”9

I do hope to speak more on these things, and if you have a forum or opportunity to continue this conversation, please message me.

-Steven

PS. Thank you to everyone who has purchased one of my books and helped support my work. My new book, The Enduring Devotion: Contemplations on the Christian Mysteries, is available now. My first book, Restored in the Rhythm is available here.