4 ms·

An ex-Intel CEO's mission to build a Christian AI: Hasten the return of Christ

45 points by teleforce 1y ago

indolering 1y ago
I guess the "build it and they will come" fab investment policy was faith based all along!
Drunkfoowl 1y ago
[dead]
jtf23 1y ago
expedite the apocalypse by becoming slaves of a society governed by automatons
- atela 1y ago
  Two minutes ago the Church of Satan read this and started their own competing initiative (satire). I’m off to work on the odds-maker model for which one gets there first.
gdulli 1y ago
The 2010s were the rise of ad tech for products and services, the 2020s are essentially LLMs creating ad tech again but for ideas.
- cyanydeez 1y ago
  Including the funny money circular wash trading of investment.
shaggie76 1y ago
My first thought was this blog article I saw on HN a while back: https://lukeplant.me.uk/blog/posts/should-we-use-llms-for-christian-apologetics/ https://lukeplant.me.uk/blog/posts/should-we-use-llms-for-ch... He argued, persuasively I thought, that "this is an area where truthfulness is of paramount importance" and consequently would be extremely ill-suited to AI.
- giraffe_lady 1y ago
  That's such a good article. I think because I didn't need convincing on this I didn't seriously evaluate its argument the first time around but like you said it is quite solid. Thanks for bringing it back into the conversation it's a really good read along with this one.
- eviks 1y ago
  But this is not an area where truthfulness is remotely important, let alone paramount, so well suited?
CamperBob2 1y ago
Topical: https://hex.ooo/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.html https://hex.ooo/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.html “Your Mark V Computer can carry out any routine mathematical operation involving up to ten digits. However, for our work we are interested in letters, not numbers. As we wish you to modify the output circuits, the machine will be printing words, not columns of figures.”
danans 1y ago
In his commentary on Gen AI, Yuval Hariri points out that the initial type of publication that proliferated after the printing press was not scientific, but instead witch hunting manuals. Perhaps Intel's ex CEO isn't attempting to incite oppression of non-Christians through AI, but his references to bringing about Christian Judgement Day as his main goal suggest exactly that. After all, why would God need his help through technology (whether swords, ships, or AI) to hasten the second coming?
- quantified 1y ago
  It is just as likely that this is to help humans, especially those who control or profit from the AI. The faithful and the gullible will see the output from hidden weights as being the word of god. When you look at those who bring this word to wide audiences today, you see a lot of grifters, not to mention predators.
quantified 1y ago
Ask the AI for all the falsehoods and contradictions. Ask it how you can tell a false prophet from a real one. This Christianity stuff has poetry in it but the religion and the texts are far apart. Exactly which laws of the Old Testament were voided? Or must Christians abide by them all? Was the Tower of Babel's destruction just a fleeting tantrum? Who did Cain marry if there were no other women? How did Noah get all the scorpions and biting insects? Thanks for the bedbugs and typhoid, dude. Generally an incoherent scheme.
- 8note 1y ago
  why didnt noah talk about how much more dangerous the bugs and animals in austrialia are? or say he put all the dangerous animals there? a bit of warning woulda been nice
- rightbyte 1y ago
  > Who did Cain marry if there were no other women? Like, stuff like that doesn't matter. It is not the point of the story. I don't think the oral tradition cared about plot holes at all.
  - Coffeewine 1y ago
    Of course it doesn’t. But there is a difference between treating the story as an oral tradition and the explicit and unerring word of god.
  - CamperBob2 1y ago
    It should certainly matter to fundamentalists, who have an outsized influence in politics. They regularly pick the most questionable translations of the most vague and obscure verses and ram them down everyone else's throats. It doesn't matter to them, but it should.
  - quantified 1y ago
    If the religion is just some fallible oral tradition, it is no better than an institutionalized TV show. Its claims for humanity are far too important for that. Remember, the Gospels weren't written contemporaneously. Only after something like 4-5 generations. And when have we heard of people changing or faking history to suit their own ends? The Judeo-Christian god is a nacissistic, somewhat sadistic mob boss. Way too human.
IAmNeo 1y ago
[dead]
thhoooowww0101 1y ago
I don't understand two things: 1. Why do some humans want to "hasten the coming of Christ’s return"? 2. Why do some humans think that an all powerful God needs their help to do what he wants to do?
- ntkhan 1y ago
  1. This is usually linked to dispensationalist theology which results in the rapture of the faithful in Christ. 2. Very few do. Most think God allows His creatures to participate in His plans and is pleased when do so in a virtuous way.
- SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
  The Bible, which Christians believe to be divinely inspired or even divinely authored, instructs humans to do this in 2 Peter 3:12.
  - pohuing 1y ago
    How does it do that? It just says to keep calm and carry on because hecklers will not understand that God wants everyone to have a chance. Or am I missing context, it's been a couple of years since I've been in church(and a reformed protestant one at that)
    - SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
      A number of translations specifically say "hastening the coming of the day of God" (https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Peter%203%3A12 https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Peter%203%3A12). You may have one of the ones that doesn't; there's an underlying dispute about the meaning of the Greek verb σπεύδω that I'm not qualified to weigh in on.
      - pohuing 1y ago
        Mine indeed does not contain a similar phrase, it says pretty much the opposite. I guess Luther wasn't interested in the end days much. But then if the first flood came after excessive sin, is the way to hasten the arrival of the end times another time of sin? That explains a lot ig
buyucu 1y ago
People thought this nutjob lunatic would save Intel? Hah, this guy is part of the reason why Intel failed in the first place.
bitbasher 1y ago
Terry Davis was ahead of his time.
aquir 1y ago
Humanity will get to the next level when we leave all organised religions behind. Faith is something that is only between you and the entity you believe in. Organised religions are just another face of politics.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
oblio 1y ago
> Belief in Doomsday Happening in Their Lifetime > There is no single consensus figure, as results vary by how the question is phrased (e.g., "apocalypse" vs. "second coming"). > Belief in "End Times" (General): 39% of U.S. adults (or 2-in-5) believe that humanity is "living in the end times," according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey. > Belief in a Lifetime Apocalypse: > 29% of U.S. adults think an "apocalyptic disaster" is likely to occur in their lifetime, according to a 2020 YouGov poll. > 10% of all Americans (and 21% of evangelical Protestants) believe the second coming of Jesus will "definitely or probably occur during their lifetime" (2022 Pew Research). I'm not an American but there are some statistics about the US that freak me out - because the US has huge global reach and impact, for better or - these days - for worse.
- tstrimple 1y ago
  As an American, I've survived numerous religious apocalypses by now. You'd think believers might start to get a clue after a few anti-climatic apocalypses. But no. Fervent as ever.
scrubs 1y ago
This is hilarious ... you know you're lost when religion (one of the most protected institutions in the US constitution) pursues AI/tech to advance its message. Sticking with the Christian theme I predict that well before the 2nd coming God will send a prophet to the Christian world who's message will essentially be: What are you clowns doing? The fundamentals require faith, then works consistent with that faith. And that's done in the real world of person v. person. Prophets are God's corrective action.
lolc 1y ago
I wonder how these Gloo guys want to serve a fractured user base. People make fun of Google generating images with diversified Nazis, but imagine serving flocks that have these diverse expectations. Is it going to tell people to stone someone, or slap their kids? Probably not. But where do they draw the line? Domestic violence? Too bad divorce is not an option. Or is it? Going to be a wild fun ride talking to these indoctrinated bots. Like browsing the Conservapedia of old.
anigbrowl 1y ago
The Electric Monk was a labour-saving device, like a dishwasher or a video recorder. Dishwashers washed tedious dishes for you, thus saving you the bother of washing them yourself, video recorders watched tedious television for you, thus saving you the bother of looking at it yourself; Electric Monks believed things for you, thus saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of believing all the things the world expected you to believe. Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
pixelready 1y ago
Which Christ is he trying to summon? Actual man-of-the-people Jesus from the bible, or the corrupted American-style supply-side Jesus of the prosperity gospel? https://imgur.com/gallery/gospel-of-supply-side-jesus-bCqRp https://imgur.com/gallery/gospel-of-supply-side-jesus-bCqRp
- krapp 1y ago
  Obviously not the former. That guy wanted his followers to give their wealth and possessions to the poor, feed the hungry, care for the sick and elderly, forgive debts and treat foreigners and aliens with respect and dignity. To practice empathy of all things. Like some kind of beta male Marxist soyboy cuck.
wnscooke 1y ago
After reading the article, I think more likely it is Matthew 24:14 which explains the desire to "hasten the coming of Christ’s return". The verses says, in the NIV, _14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come._ I suppose he is equating "improve the quality of life of every human on the planet" with them hearing the Gospel.

45 points by teleforce 1y ago

indolering 1y ago

I guess the "build it and they will come" fab investment policy was faith based all along!

Drunkfoowl 1y ago

[dead]

jtf23 1y ago

expedite the apocalypse by becoming slaves of a society governed by automatons

atela 1y ago
Two minutes ago the Church of Satan read this and started their own competing initiative (satire). I’m off to work on the odds-maker model for which one gets there first.

gdulli 1y ago

The 2010s were the rise of ad tech for products and services, the 2020s are essentially LLMs creating ad tech again but for ideas.

cyanydeez 1y ago
Including the funny money circular wash trading of investment.

shaggie76 1y ago

My first thought was this blog article I saw on HN a while back: https://lukeplant.me.uk/blog/posts/should-we-use-llms-for-christian-apologetics/ https://lukeplant.me.uk/blog/posts/should-we-use-llms-for-ch... He argued, persuasively I thought, that "this is an area where truthfulness is of paramount importance" and consequently would be extremely ill-suited to AI.

giraffe_lady 1y ago
That's such a good article. I think because I didn't need convincing on this I didn't seriously evaluate its argument the first time around but like you said it is quite solid. Thanks for bringing it back into the conversation it's a really good read along with this one.
eviks 1y ago
But this is not an area where truthfulness is remotely important, let alone paramount, so well suited?

CamperBob2 1y ago

Topical: https://hex.ooo/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.html https://hex.ooo/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.html “Your Mark V Computer can carry out any routine mathematical operation involving up to ten digits. However, for our work we are interested in letters, not numbers. As we wish you to modify the output circuits, the machine will be printing words, not columns of figures.”

danans 1y ago

In his commentary on Gen AI, Yuval Hariri points out that the initial type of publication that proliferated after the printing press was not scientific, but instead witch hunting manuals. Perhaps Intel's ex CEO isn't attempting to incite oppression of non-Christians through AI, but his references to bringing about Christian Judgement Day as his main goal suggest exactly that. After all, why would God need his help through technology (whether swords, ships, or AI) to hasten the second coming?

quantified 1y ago
It is just as likely that this is to help humans, especially those who control or profit from the AI. The faithful and the gullible will see the output from hidden weights as being the word of god. When you look at those who bring this word to wide audiences today, you see a lot of grifters, not to mention predators.

quantified 1y ago

Ask the AI for all the falsehoods and contradictions. Ask it how you can tell a false prophet from a real one. This Christianity stuff has poetry in it but the religion and the texts are far apart. Exactly which laws of the Old Testament were voided? Or must Christians abide by them all? Was the Tower of Babel's destruction just a fleeting tantrum? Who did Cain marry if there were no other women? How did Noah get all the scorpions and biting insects? Thanks for the bedbugs and typhoid, dude. Generally an incoherent scheme.

8note 1y ago
why didnt noah talk about how much more dangerous the bugs and animals in austrialia are? or say he put all the dangerous animals there? a bit of warning woulda been nice
rightbyte 1y ago
> Who did Cain marry if there were no other women? Like, stuff like that doesn't matter. It is not the point of the story. I don't think the oral tradition cared about plot holes at all.
- Coffeewine 1y ago
  Of course it doesn’t. But there is a difference between treating the story as an oral tradition and the explicit and unerring word of god.
- CamperBob2 1y ago
  It should certainly matter to fundamentalists, who have an outsized influence in politics. They regularly pick the most questionable translations of the most vague and obscure verses and ram them down everyone else's throats. It doesn't matter to them, but it should.
- quantified 1y ago
  If the religion is just some fallible oral tradition, it is no better than an institutionalized TV show. Its claims for humanity are far too important for that. Remember, the Gospels weren't written contemporaneously. Only after something like 4-5 generations. And when have we heard of people changing or faking history to suit their own ends? The Judeo-Christian god is a nacissistic, somewhat sadistic mob boss. Way too human.

IAmNeo 1y ago

[dead]

thhoooowww0101 1y ago

I don't understand two things: 1. Why do some humans want to "hasten the coming of Christ’s return"? 2. Why do some humans think that an all powerful God needs their help to do what he wants to do?

ntkhan 1y ago
1. This is usually linked to dispensationalist theology which results in the rapture of the faithful in Christ. 2. Very few do. Most think God allows His creatures to participate in His plans and is pleased when do so in a virtuous way.
SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
The Bible, which Christians believe to be divinely inspired or even divinely authored, instructs humans to do this in 2 Peter 3:12.
- pohuing 1y ago
  How does it do that? It just says to keep calm and carry on because hecklers will not understand that God wants everyone to have a chance. Or am I missing context, it's been a couple of years since I've been in church(and a reformed protestant one at that)
  - SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
    A number of translations specifically say "hastening the coming of the day of God" (https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Peter%203%3A12 https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Peter%203%3A12). You may have one of the ones that doesn't; there's an underlying dispute about the meaning of the Greek verb σπεύδω that I'm not qualified to weigh in on.
    - pohuing 1y ago
      Mine indeed does not contain a similar phrase, it says pretty much the opposite. I guess Luther wasn't interested in the end days much. But then if the first flood came after excessive sin, is the way to hasten the arrival of the end times another time of sin? That explains a lot ig

buyucu 1y ago

People thought this nutjob lunatic would save Intel? Hah, this guy is part of the reason why Intel failed in the first place.

bitbasher 1y ago

Terry Davis was ahead of his time.

aquir 1y ago

Humanity will get to the next level when we leave all organised religions behind. Faith is something that is only between you and the entity you believe in. Organised religions are just another face of politics.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

oblio 1y ago

> Belief in Doomsday Happening in Their Lifetime > There is no single consensus figure, as results vary by how the question is phrased (e.g., "apocalypse" vs. "second coming"). > Belief in "End Times" (General): 39% of U.S. adults (or 2-in-5) believe that humanity is "living in the end times," according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey. > Belief in a Lifetime Apocalypse: > 29% of U.S. adults think an "apocalyptic disaster" is likely to occur in their lifetime, according to a 2020 YouGov poll. > 10% of all Americans (and 21% of evangelical Protestants) believe the second coming of Jesus will "definitely or probably occur during their lifetime" (2022 Pew Research). I'm not an American but there are some statistics about the US that freak me out - because the US has huge global reach and impact, for better or - these days - for worse.

tstrimple 1y ago
As an American, I've survived numerous religious apocalypses by now. You'd think believers might start to get a clue after a few anti-climatic apocalypses. But no. Fervent as ever.

scrubs 1y ago

This is hilarious ... you know you're lost when religion (one of the most protected institutions in the US constitution) pursues AI/tech to advance its message. Sticking with the Christian theme I predict that well before the 2nd coming God will send a prophet to the Christian world who's message will essentially be: What are you clowns doing? The fundamentals require faith, then works consistent with that faith. And that's done in the real world of person v. person. Prophets are God's corrective action.

lolc 1y ago

I wonder how these Gloo guys want to serve a fractured user base. People make fun of Google generating images with diversified Nazis, but imagine serving flocks that have these diverse expectations. Is it going to tell people to stone someone, or slap their kids? Probably not. But where do they draw the line? Domestic violence? Too bad divorce is not an option. Or is it? Going to be a wild fun ride talking to these indoctrinated bots. Like browsing the Conservapedia of old.

anigbrowl 1y ago

The Electric Monk was a labour-saving device, like a dishwasher or a video recorder. Dishwashers washed tedious dishes for you, thus saving you the bother of washing them yourself, video recorders watched tedious television for you, thus saving you the bother of looking at it yourself; Electric Monks believed things for you, thus saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of believing all the things the world expected you to believe. Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

pixelready 1y ago

Which Christ is he trying to summon? Actual man-of-the-people Jesus from the bible, or the corrupted American-style supply-side Jesus of the prosperity gospel? https://imgur.com/gallery/gospel-of-supply-side-jesus-bCqRp https://imgur.com/gallery/gospel-of-supply-side-jesus-bCqRp

krapp 1y ago
Obviously not the former. That guy wanted his followers to give their wealth and possessions to the poor, feed the hungry, care for the sick and elderly, forgive debts and treat foreigners and aliens with respect and dignity. To practice empathy of all things. Like some kind of beta male Marxist soyboy cuck.

wnscooke 1y ago

After reading the article, I think more likely it is Matthew 24:14 which explains the desire to "hasten the coming of Christ’s return". The verses says, in the NIV, _14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come._ I suppose he is equating "improve the quality of life of every human on the planet" with them hearing the Gospel.