Why Everyone Needs To Calm Down Over AI

Hundreds of technology leaders including Elon Musk, Andrew Yang, and Steve Wozniak are calling on OpenAI to pause the advancement of the artificial intelligence used in the company's future products. This group believes OpenAI poses a risk to society by displacing workers and potentially allowing artificial intelligence to "replace us".

While AI programs like GPT-4 will inevitably replace some jobs, when has the American spirit deemed efficiency a bad thing? Farming was the predominant industry until technological and scientific advancement allowed for fewer and fewer people to be required to supply the same amount of crops. Do we still have a large number of workers unemployed because of the advancements in farming? No, the majority of these people in the early 1900s moved to the city and found better work and higher-paying jobs.

This letter strikes me as an odd sign that a large group of smart, accomplished people have forgotten the history of what capitalism is all about. However, if you dig a little deeper, you will find that almost to a person, this group of technology leaders is almost singularly comprised of atheists. Here’s why that matters in the AI discussion.