2084 : Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity by John C Lennox
Zondervan Reflective, 2020 239 pages £12 ISBN 978 0 310 109 563
Professor John Lennox is well known for tackling current scientific issues from a Biblical point of view – a careful and thoughtful defender of the Christian faith of the first order.
The title of this book is avowedly an echo of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, published in 1949.
Anyone who has seen the film of Orwell’s book will be well aware of the frightening picture of the future human society depicted there with Big Brother always there, watching and surveillance to ensure conformity with the government’s rules.
Unsurprisingly, China gets a mention in this book.
The author picks up a similar picture to 1984 of just one of the serious and existential threats to the future of humanity as presented by the rapid technological advance of Artificial Intelligence with grave possibilities on many fronts, clearly identified.
The prime concern is the speed and seemingly unstoppable advance of AI without the tempering of ethical restraint which is, in some respects, reminiscent of the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.
As always with the work of John Lennox, the net is spread very wide, infused with multiple examples and illustrations from practitioners as well as those with real concerns about the implications of unconstrained AI.
The advances in AI are viewed from a thoroughly Biblical perspective with more than a passing reference to artificial life, bioengineering and superintelligence.
Without doubt this is a timely, balanced, stimulating and informative read.