Your Soul Is the Difference

"Intellect is the soul of man, the only immortal part of him." - Thomas Carlyle

You can't deny that artificial intelligence, or A.I. is definitely one of the most discussed advancements in technology. Clearly, it's the hot topic of all the scientific and business communities, too.

Techopedia explains artificial intelligence as "a branch of computer science that aims to create intelligent machines. It has become an essential part of the technology industry."

The term "artificial intelligence" brings to mind: self-driving vehicles, intelligent personal assistants (i.e., Amazon's Echo, Apple's Siri, and Google's Assistant, Microsoft's Cortana), and robotics.

Technology assisting and/or relieving humans of monotonous, time-consuming, menial, and even hazardous activities is nothing new. The difference is that it is now more affordably available than ever before.

American author and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil says that, “Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.”

That's both impressive and, frankly, just a little scary. Even so, unless artificial intelligence can develop, or come included with a true, God-given, soul it can never really be in the same league as humans in that critical sense (Psalm 16:9-10; Ezekiel 18:4; Acts 2:41; Revelation 18:13).

The human soul is the crown jewel to the state, or fact of being an individual. It's what really sets us apart from something that is man-made. According to what we can ascertain from Scripture, the human soul is the part of us that isn't physical. A soul is eternal, that is, it continues on after we die.

No doubt that artificial intelligence will continue to progress over time. But no matter how quickly and completely it can learn, it will never acquire personhood. Being a "real" person is so much more than possessing a body, or physical frame. A soul is the secret sauce that makes us who we are, and only God has the recipe (Jeremiah 38:16).

You and I are eternal souls. Some say that only the Word of God and the human soul have no end (Mark 13:31). Perhaps this is due to the fact that both are eternal evidences of our interrelationship with Him (Genesis 1:2; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 1:15; Deuteronomy 4:32).

Unlike any created artificial intelligence, we have the promise of joining God in eternal splendor; but only if we acknowledge that we are sinners and accept His gracious gift of forgiveness. Unquestionably, no creation of man will ever be extended this invitation.

Scripture: Genesis 2:7; Matthew 10:28; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Psalm 23:3; Luke 10:27

Prayer: Dear God, fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I may abound in hope, amen

Have a blessed Monday!

Hailey