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Will religions try to convert artificial intelligence?
Will religions try to convert artificial intelligence? Reverend says 'Christ's redemption' is not limited to humans
Comments were made by Reverend Christopher Benek from Florida
His statements raise the question of whether AI can ever have a soul
Marvin Minks at MIT says computers could someday develop ethics
There are concerns AI could add to religious conflict around the world
By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 21:10 EST, 4 February 2015 | UPDATED: 21:24 EST, 4 February 2015
Artificial intelligence which is just as smart as humans could arrive in the next two decades.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk famously warned such robots could spell the end for mankind likening it to 'summoning the demon'.
But could religion covert AI into doing good for world? Or would spiritual beliefs in robots speed up the demise of humanity?
Artificial intelligence which is just as smart as humans could arrive in the next two decades, experts claim. Reverend Dr Christopher Benek (right), an associate Pastor of Providence at the Presbyterian Church in Florida, believes religions may help AI live alongside mankind
Reverend Dr Christopher Benek, an associate Pastor of Providence at the Presbyterian Church in Florida, believes religions may help AI live alongside mankind.
'I don't see Christ's redemption limited to human beings,' he told Zoltan Istvan, author of The Transhumanist Wager, in a recent Gizmodo interview.
'It's redemption to all of creation, even AI,' he added. 'If AI is autonomous, then we have should encourage it to participate in Christ's redemptive purposes in the world.'
Reverend Benek's statements, however, raise the question of whether AI can have a soul.
Reverend Benek's statements raise the question of whether AI can have a soul. Pictured is Honda's Asimo humanoid robot shaking hands during a presentation in Zaventem near Brussels
Marvin Minksy, a pioneer on the field of artificial intelligence and an MIT professor doesn't see why not.
'What humans have is a more complex and larger brain than any other animal - maybe a whale's brain is physically large, but it's not structurally more complex than ours,' he told the Jerusalem Post.
'If you left a computer by itself, or a community of them together, they would try to figure out where they came from and what they are.'
If artificially intelligent robots could have souls and be converted to religion, there are concerns that they may add to conflict around the world.
Christian theologian James McGrath, writes in his essay Robots, Rights, and Religion: 'In all likelihood, if androids were inclined to be extremely liberal, they would quickly discover the selectivity of fundamentalism's self-proclaimed liberalism and reject it.
If artificially intelligent robots could have souls and be converted to religion, there are concerns that they may add to religious conflict around the world
Bill Gates (pictured) has joined Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking in warning that AI poses a threat to humanity. In an AMA on Reddit he said he is 'concerned about super intelligence'. And he said he doesn't understand why some people are not concerned
GOOGLE SETS UP AI ETHICS BOARD TO CURB THE RISE OF THE ROBOTS
Google has set up an ethics board to oversee its work in artificial intelligence.
The search giant has recently bought several robotics companies, along with Deep Mind, a British firm creating software that tries to help computers think like humans.
One of its founders warned artificial intelligence is 'number one risk for this century,' and believes it could play a part in human extinction
'Eventually, I think human extinction will probably occur, and technology will likely play a part in this,' DeepMind's Shane Legg said in a recent interview.
Among all forms of technology that could wipe out the human species, he singled out artificial intelligence, or AI, as the 'number 1 risk for this century.'
The ethics board, revealed by web site The Information, is to ensure the projects are not abused. Neuroscientist Demis Hassabis, 37, founded DeepMind two years ago with the aim of trying to help computers think like humans.
'The possibility that they might then go on to seek to enforce all the Biblical legislation in every details should indeed worry us.'
Writing on his blog, Reverend Benek added: 'I don't think we should assume AIs will be worse than us or that they will intentionally mistreat us.
'If they are actually more intelligent than humans then they should have a better understanding of morals and ethics than us - as well as the understanding to enact them.
'This would mean that AIs could potentially eradicate major issues like poverty, war, famine and disease –succeeding where we humans have failed.
'Who is to say that one day AIs might not even lead humans to new levels of holiness?'
In the past year experts including Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have said the rise of ‘super-intelligent’ robots poses a threat to humanity.
And last month Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, joined the voices calling for caution.
He said the rise of AI should be a concern, and he doesn't understand why people are not taking the threat seriously.
Taking part in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) Q&A session on Reddit, Mr Gates - who lives in the state of Washington, US - said: ‘I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence.
‘First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well.
‘A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don't understand why some people are not concerned.’
In November, Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Space-X and Tesla, warned that the risk of 'something seriously dangerous happening' as a result of machines with artificial intelligence, could be in as few as five years.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz3QrIUixdP
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Originally Posted by Ianus
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