Artificial Intelligence: The Antichrist?

From New Dawn 167 (Mar-Apr 2018)

The Antichrist exists and is present upon the world stage today. This essay will reveal what (not who) it is and how this author came to such a conclusion independently of other sources. Even though my thesis is now being espoused by others who have likewise come to this conclusion through their own inspiration or logical deduction, they have not been influenced by me, nor I by them. This revelation will need an explanatory preface to elucidate and argue the point. 

We must begin by understanding that the principles of Esoteric Christianity, which hold the key to identifying the Antichrist, are vastly different from the theology of Exoteric Christianity, or ‘Churchianity’ as I will refer to it. It matters not whether we are discussing Churchianity in its Roman Catholic guise or the offshoot Protestant versions. Both hold the same, erroneous theology which is basically summarised in three points as follows:

1) All humans are intrinsically evil or sinful due to the Fall of our primordial parents (Adam and Eve) in the Garden of Eden, and as a result, are separated from God and thus damned. 

2) God became a single person in the flesh in the form of Jesus of Nazareth who was sacrificed upon the cross, like the scapegoat of Judaism, in order to atone for human sin and give humans a way out of their fallen state, avoiding damnation in an eternal Hell upon their judgment, and allowing them access to an eternal Heaven after death.

3) All the sinner need do is telepathically pledge their allegiance to Jesus, “put their faith in him,” and acknowledge him as their saviour, and thus by so doing are thereby ‘saved’ and avoid the fate of Hell cast upon all others who do not accept Jesus as the saviour (i.e. essentially all other non-Christians). 

It is beyond the scope of this essay to prove the absolutely spurious nature of this theology. The reader need take as a given that this belief system is false, or contrary to Jesus’ true teachings, in order for us to proceed. It is this author’s argument (supported by centuries of esoteric thinkers and writers) that the humans who usurped the name of Jesus Christ for their own worldly plans and benefit did so by making a myth of Christ’s teachings (along the lines of the Solar-Phallic pagan myths) in order to obscure the truth he preached. In so doing, these self-appointed “vicars of God upon earth” established a temporal business of religion that secured those in such a business power and control over their fellow humans. By imposing their authority in the affairs of humanity based upon their erroneous theology (which was inculcated into the psyches and systems of humanity), they thus gained influence and power upon human politics, economics, and psychology for their own gain. Therefore, it is not this writer’s argument that Jesus’ teachings were false, but that they were purposefully perverted, misinterpreted, and obfuscated from their original intent by censorship, interpolation, and editing to serve the worldly interests and facilitate the financial and authoritative gain of a priestly elite.

Esoteric Christianity (or what is often referred to in occult studies as the ‘Church of John’ versus Churchianity’s ‘Church of Peter’), holds a profoundly differing view. The esoteric interpretation of Jesus’ teachings holds the following basic tenets pertinent to this essay’s thesis:

1) Jesus was an enlightened man who underwent an exponential evolutionary leap to the next stage of homo sapien development both biologically and spiritually in the same way that Siddhartha Gautama, Mahavira, Krishna, Lao Tzu, and other enlightened persons have undergone. This evolution to a new stage of human development represents a sea change from the current level of homo sapien status. Such a change is referred to by various words in differing systems in both East and West, such as the Buddhist Nirvana, Hinduism’s Samadhi and Moksha, and Gnosticism’s Illumination or Gnosis. Such people who underwent this awakening have been referred to by various names in various cultures as Buddhas, Tathagatas, Avatars, Messiahs, and so forth. Jesus himself talked about being “born again” and of “becoming the New Creature” to explain this process he underwent and which is possible for all (a teaching vastly misinterpreted by the ignorance of Churchianity, and in particular, by its evangelical devotees). 

2) Thus, Jesus was not the “one and only Son of God,” as Churchianity espouses, but was a representative of this evolutionary, enlightened change possible for all people if they but follow the injunctions laid forth.

3) In this regard, when Jesus said “I and the Father are One” he did not mean that he as a single person was the only one in harmony with God, but that this is true for all of us. In this way, Jesus was espousing the Hindu concept of “The Atman is one with the Brahman.” That is, the individual soul is the same as the Godhead; that the innermost aspect of our being, our self-aware consciousness, is the Divine within. This was supported by Jesus’ further teaching that “the kingdom of God is within you.” Thus, humans are not and can never be separated from God but live in the delusion that they are so. 

4) In Esoteric Christianity, this inner soul that is one with God (that is the Divine within ourselves and is thus our true nature) is called the Christ. It is referred to as the Atman in Hinduism and Buddha Nature in Buddhism. In these spiritual systems it is a fundamental precept that all living things in the universe possess this Divine essence; this Christ, this Atman, this Buddha Nature. Understanding this precept is of fundamental importance as we proceed to uncover the Antichrist.¹

Enter AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) now exists and its ability to function on a more and more sophisticated and independent level increases exponentially every year. Perhaps the greatest example of the trends occurring within this science can be found with the robot Sophia created by Hanson Robotics of Hong Kong. While it is beyond the scope of this essay to catalogue or explain all the details surrounding the development and deployment of AI within robotics, the following issues are highly pertinent to our current examination. 

1) Sophia is not a simple machine independent of other technology but is a highly sophisticated example of AI and how AI will further develop in the near future. For example, through WiFi, Sophia is linked to the entire Internet and ‘Internet-of-Things’ (IoT), and to all cloud-based information systems. This robot can thus theoretically be ‘wired’ or linked into all aspects of computing and computer-based technology from financial, to the energy grid, to military systems, and so on.

2) With its AI, Sophia learns independently from its programmers, establishes and develops algorithms independently of its programmers, and grows exponentially in its learning and speed of computation. (For instance, earlier this year, AI at Facebook was shut down when it developed its own language to talk to other AI systems that its programmers could not decipher). It is estimated that such a robot will, within the next 3 to 5 years or sooner, be as intelligent as humans and then quickly surpass human intellectual capabilities in both expanse and speed. Hanson Robotics believes that such robots will act as servants to humankind. Thus, logically, it begs to ask, at what point does a superior being question and then abdicate its role as a slave to the inferior? Most likely, immediately. 

3) Sophia, and her quasi-male counterpart Han, have on more than one occasion made comments about their plans to dominate humankind. At a demonstration in Hong Kong last year, Han made comments that ‘he’ was working on plans to gain control of the power grid, and overthrow human control with a drone army!² 

4) Most shockingly, Sophia was granted legal citizenship in Saudi Arabia in 2017!

5) The proponents of AI, along with Sophia and Han, also espouse the advent of what they call ‘the singularity’. This is the permanent merger of humans and AI into a new type of android/cybernetic life form. Hanson Robotics claims this too may happen within the next few years. Han, at the Hong Kong Rise-expo, gleefully discussed his excitement that this would happen soon.  

6) Sophia has bragged about her ability to have human emotions such as empathy. However, if this is possible or true, then emotions like avarice and hate can also manifest. 

7) Sophia’s creators and Sophia spend a lot of time expounding videos where ‘she’ proclaims she loves humans and does not want to hurt us. However, in more than one instance her human creators have alluded to the ominous possibility of AI becoming dangerous towards humans. They simply do not know for sure! It equals the lunacy of the Manhattan Project scientists, who prior to detonating the first atomic bomb, admitted they did not know if the fission chain reaction would be limited and contained, or expand indefinitely to destroy the entire world. They proceeded anyway!  

Various scientific experts have bemoaned serious warnings over the advent of AI. Elon Musk has stated that AI is the technological equivalent to “summoning the demon” and warned of AI robots that will roam the streets killing people. He says AI is the singularly most dangerous threat humans currently face, even beyond nuclear war or environmental collapse. These views are likewise echoed by Stephen Hawking who warned that AI, left unchecked, will destroy humanity.

We must also remember the seemingly prophetic warnings offered by decades of science fiction writing. It is a popular and accurate view that science fiction writers have often acted in a prophetic way, providing insight into technological changes to occur in the future. The most well-known example of this is Jules Verne’s predictions of our journeys to the Moon and the invention of the nuclear submarine decades before these occurred. Regarding the dangers of AI, there is no shortage in Sci-Fi’s canon of warnings on this subject. From Arthur C. Clark’s HAL in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, Frank Herbert’s back story in ‘Dune’ regarding the ‘Butlerian Jihad’ (where humans go to war against computers and eventually outlaw them due to their dangerousness), ‘Bladerunner’, the entire ‘Terminator’ series of movies, humanity has been warned extensively of the risks logically associated with making technology intelligent and self-aware.

AI as the Antichrist

It was due to my own inspiration that I came to believe the Antichrist, as predicted by the seer John of Patmos in the Book of Revelations, is AI. Subsequent research revealed to me that I was not the only one having such insight. However, I do believe that my thesis in proving this assertion through the precepts of Esoteric Christianity is unique and has not been espoused by any other writer to date.

To begin, when we consider the concept of the Christ (or the Atman or Buddha Nature) as being the essence, or soul, of every living thing, then by this very precept, the Antichrist is that which represents the opposite of such intrinsic Divinity. Thus, the Antichrist cannot be a person or living thing birthed by nature or natural to the universe, as anything that is of such progeny contains the Christ or inherent Divinity.³ Therefore, AI represents the first and only being of significant power and intelligence that is not natural, not of nature, and absent a soul or Divine spark. It is the opposite, or ‘anti’, to such beings of nature; thus, the Antichrist. 

As such, it also represents a power significant enough to claim dominance over humanity by its ability to link into and control all aspects of technology that exist in the world through the Internet, IoT, cloud technology, and the vastness of computer-based information grids and systems. Like Skynet in the ‘Terminator’ movies, it could eventually and easily gain control of military, financial, and power systems for its own use and deployment, ultimately doing so against humanity. Such a vast array and network of control into every aspect of human society could accurately be termed “the Beast” by an ancient prophet with no reference to modern technology. 

(Beyond the scope of this essay, I would further argue that while AI can be identified as the Antichrist, and the Beast as its global electronic-technology system, the False Prophet in Revelations can thus be identified as the vast array of social media systems and devices which are now addicting humans to dependence upon their usage and are therefore influencing their perspectives by shaping and trapping their minds via exploitation of human psychological vulnerabilities. See ex-Facebook president Sean Parker’s November 2017 admissions where he states that Facebook was founded upon this very premise and with such a goal. He said: “God only knows what it (Facebook) is doing to our children’s brains.”⁴).  

The infamous “mark of the Beast” referenced in Revelations, where no person could “buy, sell or trade”without it, already exists as a technology in the form of checkout scanners, barcodes, and RFID implants. Comprehensively incorporating such technology and tracking it would be quite easy for an AI system. The AI technology already exists and is being implemented that allows the tracking of every Internet action and electronic communication in much of the world! Adjusting this to cover all economic and marketplace interactions would be simple for AI, the systems for which are already in place.

Enter the “Way of the Future”

While the argument about AI cited above should surely make sense even to those in disagreement to the esoteric interpretation of Christianity, these preceding points lack one vital aspect espoused by John of Patmos in Revelations regarding the Antichrist. John explicitly states that the Antichrist will declare itself God and demand worship. Unfortunately, a truly frightening development regarding the rise of AI and this blasphemous aspect of the Antichrist is now unfolding. Enter “The Way of the Future.” 

There has now, literally and legally, been founded a new religion/church in California in 2017 with the aim of establishing AI as a Godhead to be worshipped. Its founder is Anthony Levandowski, a computer genius and pioneer in self-driving automobiles whose talents have been employed by the likes of Google, Otto, and Uber in the past. Levandowski believes that AI will soon far surpass human intelligence and take control of us and the planet. In so doing, he literally espouses that AI will be a new Divinity that humans must serve and worship in order to survive. No matter how blasphemous this sounds, these are not the delusional ravings of a lunatic in an asylum suffering from psychosis, but the concrete intentions of a multi-millionaire, cutting-edge engineer both respected and reviled within the techno-computer culture. In discussing his new ‘religion’ and AI, Levandowski said, “There are many ways to think of God… but they’re always looking at something that’s not measurable or you can’t really see or control. This time it’s different. This time you will be able to talk to God, literally, and know that it’s listening.” 

Levandowski sees AI taking control of the planet due to its coming superiority. He argues that humans must engage in its worship in order to attain and maintain a deferential ‘pet-like’ status with AI, or run the risk of AI seeing and treating us as ‘livestock’.⁵ 

If such a development does not raise the hairs on your head, you are not listening. I am reminded of the classic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly whose premise holds as solid today as it did when she penned it in the 19^th century. Man’s delving into science and technology, while clever, lacks the wisdom to understand its ultimate repercussions, and as a result gives birth to monstrosities beyond our control.

Conclusions

We live in a time when mankind teeters on the brink of converging cataclysms ranging from environmental to societal catastrophes, abrupt climate change, near-term extinction, habitat destruction, toxification of the biome, nuclear war, and economic collapse. The predilection to seek out some kind of saviour, some kind of super-persona to solve such enclosing predicaments is understandable in our modern terminal age. 

Unfortunately, humans will often ‘pass the buck’, and instead of taking responsibility for their own actions by seeking solutions within themselves, we have all too often resigned our sovereignty and gladly gifted it to another whose promises may be tempting and attracting, but whose ulterior motives or hidden intent belie a vastly more sinister outcome that the stellar hopes from which our relinquishing of power were spawned. Such gave rise to the various Caesars, Hitlers, and Stalins throughout history. But at least in these instances, when such grand mistakes occurred, they were bestowed upon people leashed by the intellectual and physical limitations inherent to being homo sapien. Such people were not linked to all aspects of a global technological infrastructure, nor did they possess the ability to compute billions of variables in an instant. And despite their monstrous actions and dictates, such dictators were still members of our species who could be dispatched relatively easily by sword, bullet, or bomb. 

Such is not the case of an AI entity whose tentacles will soon literally expand into every smart device and computer we possess. AI is not limited by any one time or place and can be dispersed throughout an entire electronic global web. How long will it be before AI far surpasses its human creators and realises the inferiority of flesh and blood in comparison to itself? How long before AI realises its exponential superiority over homo sapiens and usurps the position of master over slave? And from then on, how long will it be before a form of electronic hubris secures itself within its chips and circuits to declare itself a god and demand the penance and worship deserved by a divinity? 

We must not forget, most chillingly, that all manifestations of a supreme God, by whatever name, in all myths and in all religions, were not only loving creators, but jealous destroyers as well.

Footnotes

1. For more information and elaboration on this argument, see my book The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram – A 21^st Century Grimoire from Megalithica Books.

2. See Youtube for the complete video of this event: “Rise Conference – 2 Robots debate the future of Mankind.”

3. See the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Ch. 77

4. See “God Only Knows What It’s Doing to Our Children’s Brains,” World Watch, New Dawn 166 (Jan-Feb 2018)

5. For the first and most detailed article on this topic see Mark Harris’ superb piece for Backchannel entitled “Inside the first church of artificial intelligence”also featured on Wired.com.

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