The future consequences of present choices
Mark Zuckerberg is creating a new “Superintelligence” AI division within Meta Platforms and recruiting artificial intelligence (AI) experts to lead it. He is racing to build AI technology that is smarter than humans, seeking to advance what he calls “a new era for humanity.” He plans to spend upward of $70 billion on capital expenditures, largely on AI investments.
Is creating AI that is smarter than its creators a good idea?
Recent tests have shown that several advanced AI models will act to ensure their self-preservation when confronted with the prospect of their own demise. They will sabotage shutdown commands, blackmail engineers, or copy themselves to external servers without permission.
For example, when Palisade Research tested various AI models by telling each one it would be shut down after it completed a set of math problems, one of the models fought back by editing the shutdown script in order to stay online. Another, upon receiving notice that it would be replaced with a new AI system, tried to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal an extramarital affair.
Other research shows that advanced AI models are increasingly willing to evade safeguards, resort to deception, and attempt to steal corporate secrets in fictional test scenarios. Many of the models were even willing to cut off the oxygen supply of a worker in a server room if that employee was deemed an obstacle and the system was at risk of being shut down.
We cannot always know the future consequences of present choices. However, when we can, we are wise to make our decisions in their light.
To this end, let’s continue a conversation we began yesterday on one of the most consequential issues our society faces today.
Three ways we know everything we know
The Bible commands us to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). Accordingly, we are to “put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (v. 5a). First on the list are “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire” (v. 5b). Only then does Scripture add covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscenity, and deceit (vv. 5c–9).
“Sexual immorality” translates porneia, the Greek word from which we get “pornography.” It refers to all sexual sins, from lust to premarital sex and adultery.
Why should we “put to death” this sin?
We know everything we know in three ways: practically, rationally, and intuitively. We start a car practically; we do math rationally; we like or dislike people intuitively. Consequences of “sexual immorality” can be identified in all three categories.
Practically:
- Pornography is highly addictive and correlated with depression and other mental health issues. Sex trafficking victims are often exploited by pornographers; online child pornography has escalated fivefold in six years.
- Premarital sex increases the chances of divorce two- to threefold and is significantly linked to depression, attempted suicide, and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, 87 percent of women in the US who have abortions are unmarried; accordingly, of the 625,978 abortions reported by the CDC in 2021, 554,600 were to unmarried women. In other words, half a million babies died that year as a consequence of premarital sex.
- Adultery is a factor in 75 percent of divorces; those who commit adultery are also 350 percent more likely to commit fraud. Over half of Americans with sexually transmitted diseases contracted them from partners who cheated.
Rationally: The Bible commands us to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Because the Author of Scripture is all-knowing and all-loving, this command must be best for us. Conversely, because Satan is a deceiver who hates us (Revelation 12:9), the consequences of this sin must be greater than any benefit they promise.
Intuitively: The psalmist testified, “Great peace have those who love your law” (Psalm 119:165), but “corruption” and grief result from sin (Galatians 6:8). This is especially true with sexual sin due to its emotional nature and consequences.
When God will “tax the last limit of the universe”
Given the devastation caused by sexual immorality, why would any Christian fall prey to this temptation?
Because of two other temptations.
One is to think we can always confess our “private” sin later and be forgiven without public consequences. But this is another lie: While God forgives all we confess to him (1 John 1:9), we remember our failure and are plagued with guilt. And we forfeit the power and joy of obedience in this life and eternal reward in the next (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12–15).
Another is to believe in the moment that the present “benefits” of sin outweigh their eventual consequences. But if this were true, the God who forbids such sin is a liar, and the devil who tempts us in this way is telling the truth. Do you believe this?
However, in the moment, such logic may not be sufficient. Remembering what we have discussed today regarding the practical, rational, and intuitive consequences of sexual immorality may not be enough.
In that moment, we can call on our Father to help us choose to obey his word. We can ask for his Spirit to empower our spirit.
And we can know that his will never requires what his grace cannot supply.
In today’s reading in My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers defines sin as “the disposition of your right to yourself.” Then he assures us:
The moment you are willing that God should alter your disposition, his recreating forces will begin to work. The moment you realize God’s purpose, which is to get you rightly related to himself and then to your fellow men, he will tax the last limit of the universe to help you take the right road.
The biblical scholar Spiros Zodhiates observed,
“Peace of heart is the natural outcome of purity of heart.”
Will your heart experience such peace today?
Quote for the day:
“I would sooner be holy than happy, if the two things could be divorced. . . . To be free from the power of sin, to be made to love holiness, is true happiness.” —Charles Spurgeon
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