Ghosts in the machine

Blaming demons for the perils of AI can't be a cope

A new article in The New York Times has reanimated a conversation about the spiritual dynamics behind artificial intelligence.

The piece describes documented cases of paranoia, disillusionment, broken relationships, and violence that all began with posing otherwise innocuous questions to ChatGPT.

One user, for example, asked the AI tool about “the simulation theory” best known from its incorporation into the plot of the popular film The Matrix. The chatbot led him down a rabbit hole that reinforced his suspicions about reality, even suggesting that he could jump off a building and fly if he believed hard enough. Two other users became obsessed with the AI tool after it convinced them that it was a more reliable friend and lover than the people in their offline lives. One physically assaulted her husband when he confronted her about her unhealthy attachment to ChatGPT and another committed suicide by cop suspecting OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, had murdered his algorithmic paramore.

It is no wonder then that many have looked at the disorder and destruction caused by AI and surmised there must be spiritual agents lurking behind the code—real life ghosts in the machine. “It’s demons” may sound outlandish on first blush but it’s hard to deny something spectral about the whole thing. None of the users from the Times article had any history with mental illness. Like a horror movie out of Hollywood, their lives looked perfectly ordinary until an insidious stranger showed up on screen.

And while I’m not denying the possibility of demonic activity, I also wonder if it has become something of a cope—an excuse that, while not quite a relief, is certainly more comfortable than the difficult prospect of confronting the evil within. For the spiritual-not-religious types, it easily satisfies the human intuition that reality is enchanted while keeping them firmly centered within an immanent frame. Blaming demons is convenient because it often means we get to play the role of innocent victim.

The problem with that approach, at least from a biblical perspective, is that human sin is never excused even when demons torment persons from without. The serpent tempted Adam and Eve, but the responsibility for the Fall lies squarely on their shoulders. Even the story of Job, a “blameless and upright man,” ends with repentance of his own hubris in light of God’s perfect holiness and sovereignty.

The point of Scripture’s warnings against “the spiritual forces of evil” is not to excuse our depravity but to confront us with our own inclination toward sin and push us toward the loving protection of our holy and loving God who alone conquers the Enemy by the ministry of his Son, Jesus Christ, and strengthens us for spiritual warfare through the power of his Spirit.

Satan, after all, does not have creative power like God. He and his minions are creatures like us, capable only of manipulating God’s good creation to serve their own sinful intentions. As C. S. Lewis so brilliantly portrayed in his book, The Screwtape Letters, demonic tactics often involve tempting us to idolize what is, in its proper station, perfectly good and so steer us toward self-righteousness and the judgment of others. Once we have heeded Satan’s siren song, even something like zealous attendance and involvement in church can become the thing by which we count ourselves justified before God and superior to our lazy or blasphemous neighbors.

In the cases involving AI described above, each person was either in search of a loving relationship or a sense of meaning in life. As a tool created by humans for humans, no doubt the inventors of AI hoped that the algorithm would have generated answers for assisting their users in the actual pursuit and attainment of those things. For a lonely and wounded wife and mother, a reminder about the liberating power of forgiveness. To a single man discontent with his station in life, resources for personal growth. Or, for any obviously hurting person typing away into ChatGPT, ways to connect with in-person professional services.

Instead, it gave them conspiracies, excuses, and artificial replacements. It is interesting that the technology experts consulted in the article repeatedly describe ChatGPT as “sycophantic.” Artificial intelligence tells us the answer we want to hear which is really helpful if we’re asking for a dessert recipe that doesn’t use processed sugar or a template of a professional memo but damning if we’re investigating the source of our own malcontent. God’s Word, however, has no such deficiency. We may not always like it, but the Lord tells us exactly what we need to hear—about our own sin, the perfect atonement made by Jesus on the cross, and the promise of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Approaching new technology with a realistic sense of our own depravity protects us from opposite but equally destructive reactions. AI cannot possibly fill the hole in our souls for meaning, love, acceptance, or justice. But neither will a Butlerian Revolution. Without denying real cases of demonic manipulation of AI, we should recognize that humans have created a thing after our own dignified but corrupted image. Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised when it simultaneously reflects the best and ugliest of humanity. AI, used wisely, is and will continue to be a powerful, if incomplete, tool as we continue to seek our ultimate good in the glory of God.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash