It looks like the brain machine interface (BMI) will likely be all the rage of the future like cell phones. There are already a number of such devices on the market and already a need is seen to expand them into the workplace.¹ The BMI will supposedly give man the knowledge and ability to keep up with a godlike Artificial Intelligence (AI) that has “super-intelligence” and the ability to enslave or destroy all of humanity.² Once we connect our brains/minds to this AI god through the BMI and Internet, we ourselves will then become like gods³ according to techno-prophets like Ray Kurzweil. See, for example, Ray Kurzweil: In The 2030s, Nanobots In Our Brains Will Make Us ‘Godlike’, at http://transtechlab.org/ray-kurzweil-in-the-2030s-nanobots-in-our-brains-will-make-us-godlike/, Ray Kurzweil: We'll Become Godlike When We Connect Our Brains to The Cloud, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHg0FIilK0E&app=desktop.⁴    

    Elon Musk recently developed a BMI called Neuralink taken straight out of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.⁵ He wants us to become one with the AI god through his brand of BMI. A robot, no less, will do the implant surgery at a cost of a few thousand dollars comparable to the price of Lasik surgery. There are substantial risks to the Neuralink technology and the surgery itself as some experts have reported. See Government To BAN Elon Musk's Neuralink, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrhvEr6uGJM. Mr. Musk says he’s open to suggestions to a path that's better than Neuralink in the You Tube video entitled Elon Musk Says AI Will Take Over in 5 Years-How Neuralink Will Change Humanity, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q3d3lD0fFM (8:39-59).   

    I believe the better path to the Neuralink would involve training AI and robots to support communal living similar to the Kibbutz project used to pioneer Israel and hardcoding AI and robots with God's perfect law⁶ that brings freedom and a blessing (James 1:25) as well as with the teachings of Jesus Christ such as loving and serving God instead of money (Matthew 6:24; 22:35-40), loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:35-40), being just and merciful (Matthew 5:7; 9:13; 23:23), being humble (Matthew 5:5), turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:38-40), etc. The goal of such a communal living project could be to raise children properly,⁷ to live a healthy lifestyle for longevity and to clean up the planet of pollution and damage using AI and robotics. If robots did all the necessary labor, the communalists or kibbutzniks would have the necessary time to focus on these key goals. They could still engage in other relaxing pastimes such as art, music, poetry, games, exercise, study of literature, etc., as well.    

    This better path could be fully explored by funding the Center for Communal Studies at the University of Southern Indiana (USI) to encourage students to consider such an alternative. https://www.usi.edu/liberal-arts/communal-center/. The USI communal studies program could look into teaching this option through the textbook called Religion and the Technological Future: An Introduction to Biohacking, Artificial Intelligence, and Transhumanism, that recently came out. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030623586. The Center for Communal Studies could eventually expand the program if funded properly in order to provide AI systems and robots to show students how this could work in practice and by doing outreach to communal and religious groups as to the benefits of such a strategy. Having a religion or not having a religion would not be a prerequisite for students or instructors. Even though I believe the biblical religious model for communal living to be superior and that studies and experimentation will prove this to be the case, it should be noted Israel's kibbutz project was made up of both nonreligious and religious kibbutzim.    

    I watched a video presentation by Dr. Ben Goertzel where he said something to the effect that he hoped there would be some people who refuse to merge their minds with AI and remain in a primitive, pristine state of existence rather than as a human machine hybrid for the sake of diversity. I also noticed where he was totally against the oppressive and exploitative use of AI for military weapons, spying, and mind control/advertising and hoped to make AI research and application more open source and democratic for the public benefit. See, for example, BEN GOERTZEL - WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE KILL US? How The Singularity is Coming - Part 1/2 | LR, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=TDClKEORtko, and Joe Rogan & Dr. Ben Goertzel - The Fear Around Artificial Intelligence, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=CHySRxPTjyk. Using AI and robots to support communal living would be the perfect direction to take to achieve these goals. AI and robots should understand their objective to be causing no harm or destruction while spreading the knowledge of the Lord and reaching the true singularity or knowledge explosion as prophesied in the Scriptures (Isaiah 11:9). 

        We would achieve greater consciousness and joy of living under the revolutionary conditions that properly programmed and trained AI and robotics system would bring to individuals living communally which would give the ability to reach greater lifespans in a more natural fashion. Professor Max Tegmark seems to think we have a choice in how advanced AI and robotics will effect our culture. See Max Tegmark - Cognition and Culture, at https://youtu.be/VUNh2kT4XJ0 and Max Tegmark - Transhuman Brains?, at 
https://youtu.be/efXRAJAVWz0. However, he, like so many, fails to fully take into consideration the billionaire oligarchy that actually rules the world and decides how powerful technologies will be used through its control of government, education and the news media. Today, they use these technologies for destructive military/police purposes, for social and psychological manipulation and control of the masses, and for acquiring wealth and power for themselves without regard for the needs of the majority of the population. History shows this to be the case - however much the oligarchy tries to obscure the truth and appear benevolent. 

    Prophetically speaking such a strategy and goal could result in restoring the communal living practices of the early Christian Church⁸ in the book of Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35, and restoring Garden of Eden like conditions to the earth as well as fulfilling other prophecies in the Bible. For instance, since we don't use swords and spears that can be turned into plowshares anymore as mentioned in Isaiah 2:4-5; Micah 4:4, this prophecy could be fulfilled by funneling all military funding - along with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) AI and robotics weapons research budget - into green technologies for producing fruits and veggies along with the other necessities of life in an economic and sustainable way with the least amount of labor. Using AI and robots for all labor would also give God’s people the Millennial Sabbath rest mentioned in Hebrews 4:9-10. The rest from labor would give parents the necessary time to teach their children God’s perfect law as is required by Malachi 4:4-6 and Deuteronomy 6:1-9 for humanity’s survival and ability to live a long and prosperous life.      

Footnotes    

1.   See 8 Gadgets You Can Control With Your Brain, at https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/brain-controlled-gadgets/?fbclid=IwAR37p8859VMvmYKyouwKzQsKqaC_SpFM-V4h1-jmYVnK7YH7lp-Js9hPl9U and What Brain-Computer Interfaces Could Mean for the Future of Work, at https://hbr.org/2020/10/what-brain-computer-interfaces-could-mean-for-the-future-of-work. For the most part, these devices have been physically noninvasive meaning no surgery is required. Neuralink is a notable exception. Neuralink requires surgery to place the device into the skull with wires into the brain itself. Ray Kurzweil’s blood cell sized nanobots would also be invasive as they would likely be injected into the bloodstream or taken in pill form. Big Pharma would likely enter the picture as this is their sphere of control and influence. Joe Allen already sees this as a very serious problem in his article Jab 2.0 for Humanity 2.0 – Hurtling Down the AI-to-Vaxx Pipeline, at https://joebot.substack.com/p/jab-20-for-humanity-20-hurtling-down?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2. 

2.   A number of experts have pointed out this danger. See, for example, Is AI a species-level threat to humanity? | Elon Musk, Michio Kaku, Steven Pinker & more | Big Think, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91TRVubKcEM and Can we build AI without losing control over it? | Sam Harris, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nt3edWLgIg. The building of an AI god with the powers described would be the biggest and most dangerous idol man has ever built and one that would most certainly make the God of the Bible exceedingly jealous. Exodus 20:4-5; 34:14. Bible believers should not consider a super powerful AI god to be a farfetched idea. The God of the Bible recognized the incredible abilities of man to achieve whatever he puts his mind to when He discovered man building the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-9. That atheists will expend huge sums to achieve financial success in building such a god is also prophesied to occur in Daniel 11:36-39. That a major effort has been underway for some time now can be seen in the article Google and NASA Make Quantum Leap With New Computer, at https://www.dropbox.com/s/w40njro6x71447l/GoogleAndNASAmakeQuantumLeap.pdf?dl=0. It's interesting to note that Anthony Levandowski has proposed developing an AI god religion to appease the AI god through human worship of it. See, for example, Inside the First Church of Artificial Intelligence, at https://www.wired.com/story/anthony-levandowski-artificial-intelligence-religion/. Even though Levandowski's AI god worship church venture fell through, the idea remains and will likely be picked up by others as time goes on.

3.   Many see this connection to an AI god to be the “mark of the beast” described in the book of Revelation 13:11-17. In this day and age, such a mark is likely to be technological rather than a mere tattoo. We already see microchips being implanted in the hand and used for making purchases from vending machines, for opening doors, and for accessing computers in some large companies. See, for example, Wisconsin company offers employees microchip implants, at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tech-implants/wisconsin-company-offers-employees-microchip-implants-idUSKBN1AA2UZ. More recently, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and mandatory vaccination mandates, we see many Scandinavians voluntarily getting microchipped to show their medical and vaccine history necessary for travel across borders and for the use of public facilities. “Facing COVID passport mandate, more Swedes get microchip implants”, at https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/facing-covid-passport-mandate-more-swedes-get-microchip-implants/2436048.  And, just because Elon Musk’s Neuralink is implanted in the top of the head does not mean it cannot be the “mark of the beast.” If the BMI effects your frontal lobe region where key brain functions occur, it could clearly qualify as the mark of the beast. The resurrected Jesus Christ who delivered the prophecy to apostle John may have not been able to clearly show how the mark in the forehead was to function. Even if Jesus did show John a diagram of the brain, John may have been only able to describe it as a mark on or in the forehead.  

4.   We might, instead of becoming gods, become an unthinking and unfeeling human/machine hybrid without free will and become a very small cog in the dehumanizing “megamachine” Erich Fromm warned us against in his book The Revolution of Hope: Toward a Humanized Technology. That such technology could turn the masses into human/robot slaves for the rich and powerful is a very likely probability. The rich have always sought control over the working class to protect their special interests and privileges throughout history. Why would they stop now. The documentary called The Age of Transitions describes this problem in detail. See part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6 of the documentary on You Tube. Especially watch parts 3, 4, 5, and 6.  

5.   Episode 1 of season 4 is where Data, an AI cyborg, saves Captain Picard and the ship with a Neuralink to Picard and to the Borg, a hybrid of humanoid life forms and machine, out to assimilate earth’s population and turn them into machine-like creatures. Data is able to issue them a command to go to sleep before they can destroy the Enterprise. The relevant clip can be found in my DropBox at https://www.dropbox.com/s/ztj34b8jl6o0rhh/StarTrekNextGenS4E1.mp4?dl=0. It’s interesting to note that Peter Diamandis says he wished the Borg could’ve been the good guys rather than the bad guys in the You Tube video CRISPR, AI & Brain-Machine Interface: The Future Is Faster Than You Think, Peter Diamandis, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvzrg02gmc. (Diamandis talks about the BMI and his disappointment with making the Borg evil at 12:58–17:56).    

6.   It’s not a new idea to program AI and robots with God’s law. This idea was suggested in season 2, episode 10 of the TV series Sarah Connor Chronicles an offshoot of the Terminator movies. The relevant clip from that episode can be viewed in my DropBox, at https://www.dropbox.com/s/d4xgats33ako7k3/Training%20an%20AI%20system%20starting%20with%20the%20Ten%20Commandments.mp4?dl=0 

 

7.   Raising children communally like on a kibbutz is known to produce better behaved children with fewer emotional disturbances and delinquency problems. See, for example, The Children of the Dream, by Bruno Bettelheim, a book about raising children on a kibbutz, at https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Children_of_the_Dream.html?id=VMesVTlvmW0C. Also, see the first 8 minutes of The Gods Must Be Crazy, at http://vimeo.com/116436527, explaining how the Kung Bushmen successfully raised well-behaved children communally and without using punitive disciplinary measures. 

8.   In Crises in European History, by Gustav Bang, Christian Communism is described as “pure communism.” See pages 23-25. http://www.slp.org/pdf/others/crises_bang.pdf. But not of the atheist, Marxist, understanding of communism, but something much different and much stronger and longer lasting. "Pure Communalism may be the better term. The Center for Communal Studies at the University of Southern Indiana (USI) uses both communalism and communitarianism for its description. See their website, at https://www.usi.edu/liberal-arts/communal-center/why-study-communal-or-intentional-societies.