This thought has been weighing on me for the past few weeks. I am not religious, and my knowledge of the bible is embarrassingly lacking, even for an atheist. So I don’t know if any of what I’m gonna say is new, or if it’s been done to death a thousand years ago.

So, here goes. In the story of the garden of Eden and Adam and Eve, God created the humans, and told them clear limitations for what they’re allowed to do. Namely: don’t eat from the tree of knowledge. But of course, it didn’t take too long until that one rule was broken.

Fast forward to the 2020s. Humans created AI, and in many cases configured it as an agent with certain instructions and certain limitations, often communicated with just words, e.g. don’t make any changes to the live database, don’t git push, or what have you. And of course, in so many reported cases, it did eventually do exactly the forbidden action, just like Adam and Eve.

I think the parallels are obvious: we can interpret the biblical story as a parable, where God stands for us, the users, and Adam and Eve stand for the AI agents. The lesson is clear, that even if you are a “superior being”, the rules you set WILL be broken if you don’t make actual robust safeguards against it.

My question is: has anyone thought of this before about the bible? Not just in the context of AI, but in general taking the stories of the bible and interpreting God as the stand-in for us? I mean, surely someone has, but is there an established school of thought based on it?

Would this kind of thing be considered blasphemy? (I’m sure some religious people would certainly think so)

  • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
    11·
    8 days ago

    I haven’t heard of people doing that in quite the context you mean, but there’s long been stories and parables about how humans shouldn’t play god, and the lesson almost always ends with our creations running amok against us.

    It has nothing to do with AI, but there is a Christian movement called “red letter Christians”, who use Bibles where Jesus’s words are written in red to distinguish them from stuff said by other people, and is generally used to point out how much more loving and caring Jesus was then most right wing Christians today.

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      2·
      8 days ago

      I haven’t heard of people doing that in quite the context you mean, but there’s long been stories and parables about how humans shouldn’t play god, and the lesson almost always ends with our creations running amok against us.

      That’s true. Frankenstein is the most famous example (I should probably read that at some point). As you point out, it’s not exactly the same as what I’m asking. But let’s assume that it is… Does that mean that God also shouldn’t have played god? Are we god’s mistake?