Prophesied Destruction
The short answer, according to Scripture, is: “No!”—there will be no “artificial intelligence apocalypse.” But do not misunderstand. When it comes to ending the world, run-of-the-mill human intelligence is more than sufficient! Bible prophecy explains that the human race will bring itself to the very brink of self-destruction.
As Jesus Christ made very plain in His prophetic teachings about our future: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Matthew 24:21–22). In other words, mankind will grow so violent in action, selfish in purpose, and deluded in vanity that we will come to the very edge of complete and utter cosmocide—the literal destruction of all life on earth! Only the coming of Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords will prevent mankind’s cosmic suicide!
No, the Bible does not predict a war of man-versus-machine—the sort of “science fiction” conflict popularized by movies such as the Terminator or Matrix series. Rather, mankind will seek to tear itself apart, as world powers violently seek dominance over each other and independence from their own Creator who “unjustly” demands of them a way of life of love, forgiveness and outflowing concern for others.
Interestingly, however, Scripture does describe in prophetic language the terrible and devastating weapons human beings will release upon each other. It is easy to picture some of the artificially intelligent war machines being developed today as being among those terrible tools unleashed in the future. Note, for instance, the Apostle John’s description of an army from the east comprising 200 million, including mysterious “horses” and “horsemen” of fantastic description, spewing “fire, smoke, and brimstone” (Revelation 9:15–18). Earlier in the chapter, something akin to “locusts… like horses prepared for battle” are mentioned, with iron breastplates and loud wings that sounded like many chariots to the ears of the Apostle John as he witnessed the vision (vv. 7–9).
John wrote of what he saw in vision, without the language or first-century reference to describe the technology he was seeing 20 centuries yet ahead of him. His dramatic descriptions, detailing the tools of death and destruction warring armies will unleash upon each other, easily call to mind the powerful, artificially intelligent killing systems that mankind is developing as we near the end of this age.
No, we cannot place AI precisely on the end-time battlefields via John’s colorful symbols and imagery. But one truth of history is hard to ignore: Whenever human beings have developed weapons, it has only been a matter of time before they have used them. Although human beings were designed with astonishing intelligence and creativity, akin to their Creator’s, they have not developed their Creator’s wisdom or love. Rather, they chose to forge their own path. Choosing the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil meant determining for themselves what is wrong and what is right, apart from the guidance of a merciful and loving God.
Consequently, while mankind has applied its intelligence throughout the generations to develop technologically at an increasingly rapid rate, the moral capacity to properly and ethically apply what we have learned and discovered has not kept pace at all. Growing in knowledge and ability has not only meant growing in capacity to achieve good ends, but also in capacity to achieve evil ends.