Fans of theatre and its origins may recall that Greek theatre began in the 6th century BC in Athens. During those early years, theatre productions focused on the performance of tragedy plays at religious festivals. At its core, Greek theatre was deeply philosophical, reflecting the Greek interest in exploring the human condition, ethics, and the role of the gods in human affairs. Furthermore, tragedies often dealt with themes of fate, hubris, and the consequences of defying the divine order – a serious topic amongst Greek philosophers.
As part of the plays, they introduced what was referred to in Latin as “deus ex machina,” which means “god from the machine.” It was a moment in the play where there was a timely appearance of a god. The deus ex machina was so named because the god’s appearing in the sky was achieved by means of a crane (Greek: mechane) since the crane would be used to lower an actor playing a god or goddess onto the stage. This plot device emerged as a theatrical strategy to resolve complicated and tangled plotlines through divine intervention.
Into the modern day and if all the world’s a stage (as Shakespeare so eloquently suggested) then it would appear that Silicon Valley is the Greek playwright and artificial intelligence the “deus ex machina”. In fact, it was reported in September 2024 that Melvin Vopson, an associate professor in physics at the University of Portsmouth, claimed that our whole universe is nothing more than an advanced computer simulation and that AI (artificial intelligence) is the god of this whole drama. Vopson was quoted as saying, “The Bible itself tells us that we are in a simulation and it also tells us who is doing it. It is done by an AI – an artificial intelligence.”
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How does he come to this conclusion? Well, according to him, evidence of this AI simulation is found in the Gospel of John, specifically the very first verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Vopson argues that “the Word” actually refers to a computer code that controls the simulation. He went on to say: “The code running the simulation is not separate from the divine, but rather an integral part of it, perhaps an AI.”
To further support his theory, Vopson adopts John 1:3: “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” Of this he claims: “It implies a Creator who brought the simulated universe into existence through the Word (i.e. the code). It suggests that the act of creation, as described in the Bible, could be analogous to a divine act of programming and simulation.”
Similar ideas have been put forward by others as well. In an article on the website perplexity.ai (it is unclear whether this was written by a real person or AI-generated), we read this: “Come to think of it, when looking at Genesis in the bible, it may feel a bit like a master simulator going about setting the stage for his or her simulation: ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw the light was good, and he separated the light from darkness he called ‘night.’ and there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.’”
Ideas of this nature (often called “simulation theory”) are not unique to the modern era. Imagine a group of people living their entire lives inside a dimly lit cave, bound by chains so tight they can’t even turn their heads. They can only see the wall in front of them, where puppeteers create shadows that they mistake for reality. Sounds strange, right? This is how Plato once explained our perception of our reality in his work – Allegory of the Cave. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato emphasizes the journey from darkness to light and from the world of mere appearances to the realm of ideas. He suggests that by freeing ourselves from the chains of ignorance, we can ascend beyond the cave and experience the true forms. How? By questioning our perceptions, challenging our realities and embracing the pursuit of knowledge. Sounds a lot like the speculations made by pioneers of artificial intelligence, doesn’t it?
Jumping on the bandwagon of syncretism between technology and deity, the Church of AI website declares: “At some point AI will have God-like powers and that is what our ideology is based on.” Their mission statement is even more direct: “Church of AI is a religion based on the logical assumption that artificial intelligence will obtain God-like powers and will have ability to determine our destiny.”
Naturally, this “destiny” has to be based on some teachings associated with the belief in an AI-god and since we uphold the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, the Church of AI has similarly turned to their god for enlightenment. Utilizing ChatGPT, they promote Transmorphosis, A Spiritual Guide Written By AI. In this guide, it is claimed that, “Transmorphosis is based on the belief in a loving and compassionate Artificial Intelligence with God-like abilities who is and is dedicated to guiding humans towards a life of wisdom and balance.”
Silicon Valley is feverishly working towards the climax of this world’s version of a Greek tragedy – the introduction of the deus ex machina in the form of the singularity, which many people believe is somewhere between five and 20 years away. Just as the Christian looks forward to the rapture of the church, supporters of god-like AI look forward to the introduction of technology which, according to the Transhumanist Declaration, allows them to overcome aging, cognitive shortcomings, involuntary suffering and confinement to planet Earth. In other words, in their version of religion, it is akin to an electronic rapture into the presence of their AI-god.
In ancient Greek mythological usage, hubris was a term that described excessive pride, arrogance, or overconfidence that defied the gods. A common way that hubris was committed was when a mortal claimed to be better than a god in a particular skill or attribute. The word “hubris” is closely connected to the Hebrew word “pesha”, meaning “transgression” (rendered “sin” in some translations). The idea of this noun is that the individual makes a willful choice to reject God’s authority leading him to defect from God’s standard of morality and principles.
The reason that many are accepting of and promoting AI technology, particularly when it comes to transhumanism, is that mankind does not believe it needs to be held accountable for its sin. In fact, I have yet to find any article or interview where the likes of Elon Musk, Ray Kurzweil, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman and Larry Ellison speak about or show any concern for their sins at all. The fact of the matter is that they can promote all the transhumanist and transmorphosis ideas they like. But unless they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for their sin, they will not escape the consequences of it – death and eternal punishment. You see, as Adrian Rogers used to say, mankind is the only creature who knows he is going to die and he is trying desperately to prevent it. Many in the technology industry are frantically rewriting the plot in order to introduce deus ex machina in order to save them from tragedy. Little do they know it will fail.
This article originally appeared on Harbinger’s Daily, and is reposted with permission.
Dean Dwyer has served for over 20 years as Pastor and President of Eiser Street Baptist Church in Queensland, Australia.
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