"I'll be back!": Could a computer ever have a mind?

“

I’LL BE

BACK!

”

Could a computer ever have

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I

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a mind?

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]

The Terminator films show a future where machines, having been given self-awareness, use their independence to try and destroy the human race.

The computer Jarvis from the Iron Man films is a programme so intelligent that it can hold any number of conversations with Tony Stark, make its own decisions and come up with ideas on how to help him out of sticky situations.

VIKI is the central A.I. computer in I-Robot which ‘evolves’ in its own understanding of the laws by which it was originally programmed.

Robin William’s Bicentennial Man is an android that gradually becomes human and then dies of old age.

Chappie is a robot in a mechanised police force who, after being reprogrammed to be “fully alive”, is given the ability to think and feel for himself.

These are just some examples of artificial intelligence (A.I.) from the world of cinema; so they’re not exactly scientific. However, is the idea they represent possible? Could machinery or computers ever have their own minds, understanding and awareness in the way we do? Is there any reason why not?

“

I’LL BE

BACK! I really mean it.

”

A.I. philosophers have

discussed the idea of machines having minds in much greater depth than we can here. In quick summary, what it boils down to is our definition of a ‘mind’.

Some argue that intelligence is simply responding to situations correctly.

Based on this definition, computers are ‘thinking’ if they can answer questions or respond to commands.

So, your desktop shows intelligence when it gives you useful suggestions after you type something into google.

Right now any computer could be programmed to say “I’ll be back!” when asked to. We don’t need to wait for the Terminator to be created. But the question is whether the machine

actually understands what it is saying. Is the computer just playing an audio file on request, or has it actually decided and intended to make this statement?

For the sake of this article, this is how we will interpret what it means to have a mind. It isn’t just responding to situations or commands. Having a mind is about being fully aware or “fully alive”. It is about being able to make decisions, live by a moral code (of your choosing), change your mind, love, hate and feel all the other varied things humans experience.

The question we’re really asking is: can computers ever be self-aware, independent and conscious in the way we are? Could they ever become like us?

What would it look like for

MACHINES HUMANS? to become like

Imagine a world where: •• A robot in a factory production

line slows its work rate right down because it’s busy day dreaming of being a missile guidance system.

•• Two identically manufactured robots

are watching TV. One reacts angrily to a charity advert appealing for donations and storms out the room.

The other lazily flicks the channels and settles to watch cartoons, taking another swig of fizzy motor oil.

•• Your home laptop uses your credit

card details to update its user system in an attempt to try and impress your next door neighbour’s Wi-Fi modem.

•• You wake up one morning to

discover your car has driven itself onto another continent just because it fancied a road trip with its automobile mates.

•• The local ATM asks you out on a date. . .

These are all ridiculous and unlikely scenarios. Yet, we are developing A.I. technology at a magnificent rate. Take Cleverbot for an example. Cleverbot can hold conversations with humans, yet its responses are not programmed.

It learns from the conversations it has about the words used and the responses that can be given. Cleverbot can talk to around 80,000 people at once, so it is constantly growing in its intelligence and communicative sophistication.

Certain types of life and awareness are clearly possible (and in some cases a reality) in computers. However, John Searle, an American philosopher, explains: “We still don’t know how the brain creates consciousness.”

What he’s saying is simply that we don’t know how a lump of fatty tissue and electricity (a human brain) can understand, think, feel and intend! While we don’t really understand how we work, it is simply impossible to replicate ourselves on machinery or software.

But will it ever be possible to give machines minds and self-awareness like ours in the future?

A.I. development is moving on at break-neck speed and promises wonderful things in the near future. That being said, the complexity of replicating human intelligence and awareness (even just in part) shows just how unique we really are, and why it may never be possible to make computers “fully alive” like we are.

The key difference between

MAN

and

MACHINE

Despite being much older than even the idea of A.I., the Bible gives some very useful insight into this discussion: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

As God made the world, he did something very special when he came to creating people; he “breathed” life into us. The rest of creation he simply made, but by breathing something of himself into us, he gave us a special kind of life: “God created mankind in his own image” (1:27).

We are unique and incredibly valuable. God himself has given us awareness, consciences, feelings, etc., just like he has. We are the peak of everything he made! We have our own characters, personalities, values and priorities. Only God could give this kind of rich and varied life!

God didn’t give this life to anything else; he gave it just to us! He wants us to celebrate our unique life with him, not to try and copy that life onto things that he hasn’t made “fully alive” in the first place.

A.I. development is fantastic and a wonderful thing to explore. Yet, when it comes to trying to bring machinery up to our level of life, we are, in a way, rejecting our unique relationship with God. The film Ex Machina sums it up when one of the characters says: “If you’ve created a conscious machine, it’s not the [greatest scientific event in the] history of man. That’s the history of gods.” Creating A.I. is brilliant; but creating real and

full consciousness is something only God can do—and has done with us.

Yet, often, rather than enjoying the fact that we can know him, we’d rather ‘play’ God and make other things to know instead.

Whilst technological innovation and creativity is really good (and actually a gift from God for us to explore, as the whole world is), ignoring God and focusing on our own skills, ability and independence is not.

Even if we are not trying to make living robots, we all prefer to do our own things, live our own lives, set our own priorities and ignore God, our Creator. The Bible calls this attitude towards God “sin”. None of us have used our unique life and consciousness to love God and enjoy a perfect, safe relationship with him.

The penalty for this is death.

God did not give life to computers or machines. And so, they will never be “fully alive” and they will never be held responsible for how they have lived. But we will.

DIE DESKTOP?

WOULD you

for your

If your desktop got a virus

or needed repair, would you be willing to die in order to get it fixed?

Probably not. It’s just a machine. It can be cheaply and quickly replaced.

But when it comes to us, and the way we have treated God and the people he created, God could easily throw us away as broken. But he hasn’t. We’ve already seen that we are valuable to him because he “breathed” life into us to make us like him. But there is another reason we can know we are loved deeply

by God: Jesus came to earth 2,000 years ago to die in our place and receive the punishment we deserve.

Jesus, who is God, chose to die for our wrongs so that we don’t have to. And then he rose to life three days later, offering us new and unending life with God! This is how valuable and special we are. This was an incredibly costly thing for God to do!

Once you were [separated] from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has [brought you back] by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without [fault] and free from accusation.

—Colossians 1:21-22

For those who trust Jesus, a new, safe and loving relationship with God is promised, along with a certain place in heaven after we die.

The Bible says God offers this new life to anyone; but he doesn’t offer it to anything. God didn’t send Jesus to die for machinery or robots. They are just things and will never have God’s ‘breath’ or life in them. But we do. It’s what we chose to do about it that matters.

Who GOD

MADE US TO BE

See what great love the Father has [for] us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

—1 John 3:1

God has never called a machine his own child. Yet that is precisely what he says to every person who trusts Jesus to pay for their sin and give them new life.

This new life isn’t simply about giving up the things we like and serving and obeying God instead with our heads down. God gave us our personalities, likes, dislikes and characters. He loves our creativity and uniqueness. Becoming a Christian isn’t about turning into

a church-robot who just obeys the rules, says the right things and never has any fun. It is about using everything we are to please him, rather than just to please ourselves. What we will find from this is that God uses our talents and skills in ways we could never have imagined. In that way, Christians may look very different from one another—but they all love God and are able to enjoy seeing their lives used in great ways by him.

This is what it means to be God’s child, rather than God’s robot. He helps us grow, develop and live life to the full! He wants us to live an exciting life where we rely on him for every step of the way. He promises to never leave us and to give us a place in heaven after we die.

“

I’LL BE

BACK!

”

Who said it first? Arnold

Schwarzenegger? Nope! He was about 2,000 years late. Jesus was the first one to say it:

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”

—Revelation 22:12

A.I. already exists in different forms, and it will continue to develop and amaze us, even if it never becomes “fully alive”. One thing we know for sure is, no matter how sophisticated A.I. becomes, it will never

have God’s life in it. It will never have to answer to God for how it has lived.

When Jesus said “I’ll be back!” he meant it for us—humanity: the only ones with God’s life in them. He knows exactly what it means, and we need to as well.

It means that there is going to be a final day for this earth when Jesus returns to judge each person “according to what they have done”. We need to ask ourselves: with our God-given lives, have we chosen to love him? Or have we preferred just to live for ourselves?

The answer matters. It at least deserves serious investigation to see whether Jesus is worth trusting.

If you want think further about who Jesus is and what he claimed, the best idea is to get hold of a Bible and start reading some more. We encourage you to make contact with a local church as well, where you can ask any questions you might have.

Our Daily Bread Ministries would also like to help! We publish a regular booklet called Our Daily Bread, which will help you to read the Bible and talk with God each day. You can check it out at odb.org or request a copy using the contact details on the back of this booklet. We’d love to help!

Visit us online at ourdailybread.org/uk to see the many other resources available to you!

Scripture taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2016 by Our Daily Bread Ministries. All rights reserved.

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