The hype and rhetoric behind the current AI boom feels very religious to me. I became a Christian in the 90s, as a teen. It was a decision I made for myself, but in retrospect, I can’t say the compelling catalyst was the unfailing love of God. At the time, there was a special form of alarmist FOMO that was sweeping our flavour of Christianity which sounded like this: “The world is changing. Jesus is returning to gather His own. Don’t be left behind.”

There was an overarching fear-based narrative being sold in the form of cleverly crafted books, signs, songs, sermons and splicing of scripture. Interestingly, a lot of it was from the US and was supported by big names. As a result, I and others started making major life decisions based on the belief that if I didn’t tick the right boxes, Jesus would return, and I would be left behind. It was polarising, irrational, stained with hubris, and… well… never came true.

Having spent a few years around this kind of transmedia-empowered angst, I cannot help but see something in the eyes of those young people on the verge of making life decisions – as I was. Weekly, either on the Uni campus, or in the community, I end up in a conversation with a young person troubled by the pending impact of AI. They usually fall into two camps: There are those struggling to make life-decisions about future study and careers based on the fear of AI coming to take their job (or job they study for). Then there are those committed to learning everything they can about AI so that they won’t be left behind.

Other connections I see are the evangelists of the coming AI heaven or hell. In the 90s these white middle-aged men could be found standing on stages before believing crowds, selling books and signing movie deals featuring stars like Kirk Cameron (yes, the Growing Pains star featured in a movie called Left Behind). Many of these pending-rapture men benefitted greatly from their messaging. And this should be no surprise, charismatic leaders will always have followers, particularly in times of volatility. The formula is not new. With great conviction they forecast a great future for believers and adherers, while making it clear that others will be left behind. They know fear, fame and funds buy them followers, favour, smoke, mirrors, and airtime.

Here are some other similarities between the rapture and AI evangelists:
– No one publicly apologises when there prediction fails. Not ministers. Not AI CEOs.
– Unassuming and busy institutional leaders rush to get on board in fear that their organisations will be left behind. I saw it with Pastors then. I see it in organisations (including Uni’s) now.
– Hype merchants jump on board the rhetoric for financial gains. There was a quick rise of authors, speakers and experts on the end-times in the 90s. There is an irrational surge of AI consultants and experts appearing daily, ready to swap their advice for your money.
– Unassuming portions of the population start making life decisions on speculation in fear that they will be left behind.

To readers and friends unsure about what to believe about AI, let me share three things for you to consider – you may or may not know these. (These have been simplified, so AI pundits, be contextually kind, please.)

ONE. The term AI (artificial intelligence) has been around since 1956. Yep, nearly 70 years. It’s not new. Most in the field will agree that it is a problematic term because it is vague and is being slapped on a lot of tech today that, just a few years ago, was labelled something else. Lesson: AI is a broad field and an old label being applied to new tech. No one is regulating the label but product creators know that many investors prefer to see tech labelled AI.

TWO. Most of the population started paying attention (and freaking out) when Large Language Models labelled as AI, like ChatGPT, was released in 2022 and started generating text in a way that sounded human. A 1966 experiment with a chatbot called Eliza gave creators the confidence that humans would fall for the illusion. Search the term “Eliza Effect” for more on this.

THREE. The chance of AI taking most jobs is slim. The AI tech creators want you to believe AI can (and will) take most jobs and if I had created a company that was burning billions per year on tech to sustain a crazy dream, I would do the same. I would convince people they are dumb and simple. If I was a crap CEO looking to save money or keep my company afloat I might fire people in a last-ditch hope that I can replace them with a bot. But people are incredibly complex creatures AND most jobs aren’t output-driven. eg. Software engineers do much more than just write code. When they do write code, they’re not simply finding a solution to a problem. They’re using their experience to think about how the code works, what could go wrong, and all the hidden factors you can’t see just by reading the code. People are contextual in a way that can’t be replicated en masse.

I’ll close with this. Grandiosity, fear mongering, and hyperbole can be very attractive. Looking back I wish I had wiser elders around me when I was going through my theologically suspect time of angst. I wish someone with a few smarts had sat me down and said, “Dave, you won’t be left behind, because nothing spectacular is about to happen.” Today, in this age of computational AI, we need those wise elders too. I have come across a few that are worth considering. I can list them in the comments, if you wish.
Also, to the young person or parent reading this, AI isn’t coming for your job. Sure, technologies have always shaped our lives, and industries change over decades, but go study and pursue what you want. I suggest you follow the wisdom of poet Mary Oliver, “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

~ David Tensen

text: All mine.
pic: generated with Gemini (ironically)