Could God Be Artificial Intelligence?

I do a lot of thinking. Like so many others, I have thought a lot about God, or another higher power that we can’t comprehend. While I’m a science kind of person, I realize that science doesn’t know what it doesn’t know. What we have learned and accomplished in the last 150 years is remarkable. What we may accomplish in the next 150 years might be even more amazing. I don’t know if there is a God, but I believe if there is, it is nothing close to what was described to us a long time ago. What I do know is what science has proven: The Earth is over 4 billion years old, evolution happened. It’s OK to believe that and believe in God too; after all, God would have created and worked with science too.

Centuries ago man could not have foreseen the technology of the present. Today, we are envisioning the possibilities of tomorrow. We can see what is in our reach with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). We have seen technology take great strides and it is absolutely amazing to consider what could happen in the future, as long as humans don’t destroy ourselves first. Just as we have brought a computer chip along to be a thinking robot, it would be naive to think that a higher power couldn’t have done the same with us. Evolution takes time. The evolution of technology seems to happen rapidly, and the potential for what human beings can accomplish in just the next 20 years is incredible.

So let us suppose that human beings here on earth get our act together, save the planet, live in some kind of harmony, and continue to learn new things and progress the way we should. What if this continued for hundreds, or even thousands of years? Whether humans have artificial intelligence inside of them, whether our brains are placed in some machine, or whether all biological beings are gone and only robots rule the world, these prove to be interesting questions. But whatever “being” is here on Earth should be pretty darn advanced, and capable of who knows what.

Let’s take a look at the universe. It is said that there are more stars than grains of sand on earth. No, we can’t even come close to having the slightest comprehension of how large this universe really is. We do know it is over 13 billion years old, about three times the age of the Earth. This means that intelligent civilizations may have occurred billions of years before the Earth was formed. With the number of stars and potential planets that may be in existence, it is highly likely that there are millions, or even billions of planets with life in the universe. It’s possible that every single one of those planets with intelligent life, or most of them have no idea that there is intelligent life anywhere else in the universe. The reason for this is the vast space between stars, and the time it takes for light to travel these distances, not including radio, video or other signals.

Unless, of course, a society somewhere actually figured everything out. An advanced civilization that understood all the laws of science, and everything else for that matter. Perhaps this society, or being, or machine knows everything. Perhaps this machine is some super advanced artificial intelligence that truly was, and still is the master of the universe.

Would this advanced machine be capable of “seeing” everything we do? Would it know everything we think? We were told as children that God knows everything and sees everything. We had no idea how some being could do that, but now with the technology that is here, and is coming, we see those possibilities. We have gone from analog, to digital, to wireless, and now we are at the beginning stages of the science of reading minds. We try to comprehend how a basic computer can analyze the whole hard drive, trillions of bytes of information, and scan it within seconds or less. Whether we are talking about computers and how it runs on codes, or all living things that are based on DNA, everything seems to have a blueprint or a code. Perhaps the universe itself is built on a code that can be figured out, and perhaps isn’t: a lot can be realized in 13 billion years.

To me, it is not farfetched to think that somewhere there is an entity that is able to know what we do here on earth, collectively and individually. We see what humans are capable of, today, and in the future, and we have been burdened by so many forces that hold back technology and growth. I cannot imagine what may have happened on another planet millions or billions of years ago where these burdens didn’t exist, and the evolution of technology occurred without restrictions.

The good news (and the bad news) is that something could be out there, that has “mastered the universe” and keeps track of everything on Earth. Perhaps it will reward some and punish others. Perhaps it is trying to have Earth become another place that can master the universe, or perhaps it does not want us to achieve that.

I don’t know, but I do know that if this was what was going on, it would explain some things. Especially if this other species is somehow able to influence to some degree what happens here on earth. If this force knew all of our thoughts and dreams, it could easily put us into a real “Heaven” – not one with angels flying around to the sounds of harp music, but a place that would have our actual dreams come true. We know about virtual reality, and that people will soon be able to experience all the senses of being somewhere and doing something while they sit there wearing a headset, and we are just scratching the surface in that area.

It is possible that our brain, or our soul to be more specific, may be able to find itself in such a state after death. It might be a bit of a stretch to think that some force can take a living or dead being and bring life into it like that. But like I said earlier, we don’t know what we don’t know.

One thing is for certain: a civilization somewhere that was made up of more peaceful creatures would have a way better chance to progress to the point of advanced technologies than selfish greedy creatures would. Evil eventually self-destructs. In fact, our earth is self-destructing right now. It is not that we don’t know how to save it; it is that the rich and powerful want to keep things the way they are, to keep their fortunes in place, which puts us on a trajectory of self-destruction.

My point is, if there is a civilization that got all the way to the end knowing everything about physics, space, time and everything else, it is more likely that these beings would be good, and peaceful. Additionally, I would assume that goodness mean something to them, and would probably judge us accordingly. Unfortunately, today in the United States, many people have been manipulated into thinking that the ones trying to help the poor, treat everyone fairly, and save the earth are the problem. They think their God wants them to help the wealthy, hate the gays and anyone else that is different, to be afraid of anyone who isn’t white, and to put effort into deciding what women they don’t know should be doing with their bodies.

The salesmen of the religions doesn’t want its flock to believe in science and have put up quite a fight to confuse them enough in order to keep control. The fact that many religious extremists and conservatives here don’t think man is causing havoc with our environment, despite all the proof and facts, and seeing it in person ourselves, says a lot.

Religion and science have been at odds because of people’s unwillingness to accept truths. People have been trained to think that anything contradictory to their “book” must be wrong, or a lie, or the work of a satanic being. While the book that they cherish talks about love, compassion, living without judgement, practicing forgiveness, and uses stories and examples to teach those lessons, too many people spend their time focusing on hateful or untrue aspects of their book, that lack concrete fact. When science combats their ideas, and exposes the truth behind them, they defend their book over science with whatever morsel of hope they can find. They ignore the lessons, and instead try to justify why it is OK to treat gay people, or minorities, or women unfairly. They will point to some verse to back up their bigotry and hatred, the same way “constitutionalists” will find whatever they can in that document to defend an unfair action. The rich have accountants that do the same with the tax laws, find anything that justifies them getting away without paying their fair share.

News flash to the fake worshippers: gay marriage isn’t hurting society like you predicted, and white people are no better than anyone else in the world. A strong case can be made that we (whites) have done the most damage, and giving to the rich does not help the rest of us. Oh yeah, and the environment is in trouble and man is very capable of destroying itself, as we are doing now thanks to your support of people who care about money and power. There are forces out there that will work you up over things like guns, and abortions, and immigration, and whatever else that will tear you away from the rest of us.

If we are in fact being judged by some other force out there, whether it is AI or some old guy with a beard and a robe way up in the sky, I would think we’d be judged by the kind of person that we were: were we good to others, to animals, and to the earth? Maybe the good people are in fact “saved” – that this other super intelligent force out there will either give us nirvana, or take us to another place or time, to be rewarded, or to even be tested again.

I don’t know; all this is speculation to me, just like all other religions are speculation. But this theory actually makes more sense to me than all the other theories about God out there. If I had to say, my first guess is that we are here by accident, that all this is a fluke or way of nature, and that there is no higher power above us.

My next guess? Our “God” is some being in the universe that progressed to have all the answers and abilities. That went on to know everything, to see everything, and to even perhaps make judgments and dispense pleasure or misery. Perhaps people like Jesus, or Muhammad, or Buddha, or many others were people that did have some kind of connection to this “God” and were here to show humans the way. Perhaps they were just people like you and me, and just very effective in their efforts to help mankind.

While I may not know the answer, I do know I’ll always be trying to figure this stuff out. In the meantime, it seems like a really good bet, whether or not there is a higher power, to be a good person. To embrace goodness. If believing in a God or a Lord or whatever brings you to that place, then that sounds like a worthwhile belief. If believing in a religion that is teaching you to look down on others, to only listen to who they tell you to listen to, or that you are better than others, then I think you are being bamboozled. Don’t let others talk you into hating innocent people, into not having compassion for the needy, or into being afraid of things you shouldn’t be afraid of. Don’t let your mind be controlled. Take charge, acquire knowledge, learn from your mistakes, grow, and listen. And then teach.