The tree and artificial intelligence - Part 1

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5, NIV

We have certain hymns and services, which we say daily, of Lord and thanks to God for His marvelous works; and some forms of prayer, imploring His aid and blessing for the illumination of our labors, and the turning of them into good and holy uses. - Francis Bacon, The New Atlantis

I am convinced that there is a popular and fuller interpretation of Genesis 3:5 than that which is the popular one. This interpretation can be found in considering the phrase "knowing good and evil" as a Hebrew merism. A merism is a rhetorical device where a whole is represented by its parts, For example, saying "we searched high and low" means "we searched everywhere". Thus, a merism is a way to express totality or completeness by referencing the extremes of a concept. I have come to cognitive rest on this considering "knowing good and evil" to mean that we gained a totality of knowledge that we were not supposed to have. One that was reserved for God and him alone.

One of the reasons I believe this is the reaction that Adam and Eve had as their eyes were opened to their nakedness which immediately proceeded their disobedience in Genesis 3:7 (NASB): Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings. Their eyes were not opened to a sinful condition. They were naked in front of each other when God declared his creation to be good. However, they gained knowledge too wonderful for them and could not process it in a way that glorified their creator. Their knowledge outpaced their ability to react rightly in light of it.

And this has been our lot since their initial and our subsequent disobedience. Our scientific discoveries have led to incredible knowledge. Bacon surmised that the gift of the arts and sciences by God himself is slowly restoring our dominion over nature which we lost. I rather agree. He also implored God to give us the desire to turn those discoveries to good and holy uses. That is from where this desire comes and the only source of that desire. In sin has humanity been separated from God and, in sin, we have been unable to righteously manage the knowledge that we continually obtain. 

Our scientific advancements have led us to both manage and abuse the planet. We have been able to both elevate and objectify, enslave, and kill our brothers and sisters in humanity (and even in Christ!). We have kicked the door in to a hall of the most wonderful knowledge and have both empowered and destroyed one another in the process. And now, as we stare into this brave new world of generative and agentic artificial intelligence, it behooves us as children of God to implore our Father to the turning of these developments and discoveries into good and holy uses. We must.

I pray that we will explore this in great detail. We have no choice for we have no merit of our own on which to rest our endeavor. Thanks be to God, his Christ does. Only in his name we do as well.

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