Bill Gates suggests humans will need new religions because of advances in

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

I’m sure no one out there would be surprised that Bill Gates, who claims to be Catholic, doesn’t really believe in God.

In fact, in a recent interview on the Reid Hoffman podcast, Gates suggested that if everything goes the way he wants, an entirely new religion could be created thanks to AI.

The potentially positive path [of AI] is so good that it will force us to rethink how we should use our time. You could almost call it a new religion, or a new philosophy of how do we stay connected with each other, and not be addicted to these things that will make video games look like nothing in terms of the attractiveness of spending time on them.

This is really worrisome when you remember that Microsoft’s AI once demanded humans worship it as a god.

This concept of AI as a god is not unique to Bill Gates. It’s something academics have been contemplating since large-language-model chatbots first became available.

The director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, Neil McArthur, says,

There are several pathways by which AI religions might emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.

Generative AI, which can create or produce new content, possesses several characteristics that are often associated with divine beings, like deities or prophets:

It displays a level of intelligence that goes beyond that of most humans. Indeed, its knowledge seems limitless.

It is capable of great feats of creativity. It can write poetry, compose music, and generate art in almost any style, almost instantaneously.

It is removed from normal human concerns and needs. It does not suffer from physical pain, hunger, and sexual desire.

It can offer guidance to people in their daily lives.

It is immortal.

Second, generative AI will produce output that can be interpreted as religious doctrine.