I found myself contemplating AI, specifically the chat programs that will answer any question and write anything for human beings. I realized something that I didn’t realize before. If a teacher has the following question: “Compare and contrast the use of imagery in Edgar Allen Poe’s writing with the use of imagery in Henry James’ writing”, then students could put that information into a chat program and get an answer out of it, but there would be a problem with the answer. The computer program would give the best possible answer according to the algorithm. That may not seem like a problem at first, but it is.
The other day my husband and I were traveling in the Texas Hill Country back to our house. We decided to use GPS to help us not get lost, but we took a route that allowed us to go through some of the small towns off of the main highway. The GPS kept trying to tell us that it had found a faster route and wanted to know if we would like to use those directions. We kept telling it no. The problem was that the GPS couldn’t understand that we would want to use a route that wasn’t the fastest route. According to the algorithm, the best route is always the fastest route. However, being human the best route isn’t always the fastest route.
Now in the case of writing, there is an algorithm to all writing and communication. These programs are learning everyday what is the most effective and efficient algorithm for writing and communication, but when users ask questions and make requests from these programs, they are going to get the best answers, but the best answers aren’t necessarily the correct answers.
When God decided to create the world, He could have easily created a world where everything was perfect. He is an all-knowing all-powerful God. Yet, He didn’t. And I have contemplated on this idea most of my life. If God is God, then why did He create evil, darkness, and pain? Why isn’t the world perfect? Why am I imperfect and a sinner doomed to failure?
The answer is very simple if I accept the fact that God is all-knowing and all-powerful and that I am simple imperfect human being. God created the world in perfect imperfection. He created me in perfect imperfection. He loved His creation enough to make it imperfect so that we could be being with free-will and have a choice to love Him or not. He has a very specific plan, and He knows what He is doing. I am so grateful to God for the sacrifice He made so that I can have this life in the amazing universe He created that is perfectly imperfect. It is a miracle in ways that I will never be able to imagine. Yet, that’s the problem with AI in my mind. AI doesn’t know and will never know enough to be able to create perfect imperfection. Most humans don’t have the ability to do it. There are some very special human beings in some very special circumstances who achieve it some of the time and maybe the rest of us recognize it, but it is a rare occurrence that doesn’t happen very often. We don’t tend to understand that which is right before our very eyes and if we can’t recognize it and understand it, then how will the computer programmers ever program that into AI?
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
