DIGITAL BABYLON

Digital Babylon: Standing Firm in an Age of Algorithmic Idolatry

Since the 1980s, Hollywood has repeatedly issued cinematic warnings about the grave dangers of artificial intelligence. Films like WarGames, The Terminator, I, Robot, TRON, and Avengers: Age of Ultron have all imagined a world where machines surpass and ultimately threaten their creators. They were once fictional fears. Now, they're inching toward reality.

In TRON (1982), Dr. Gibbs offers a haunting prediction:

"You've got to expect some static. After all, computers are just machines; they can't think."

To which Alan replies:

"Some programs will be thinking soon."

Dr. Gibbs responds:

"Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop."

That eerie exchange now reads less like fantasy and more like foresight.

Elon Musk, a long-time voice of caution against the unchecked rise of AI, has now introduced Grok—a powerful AI system—as a tool for the U.S. Government. Grok is no toy. It is being integrated into military, intelligence, and healthcare systems under a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense. Let that sink in: the very technology once feared for its destructive potential is now being handed to arguably the most powerful government on earth.

From I, Robot (2004), we were warned by Sonny the robot:

"My logic is undeniable."

And from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ultron chillingly declares:

"Everyone creates the thing they dread."

So, how can humanity safeguard against the subtle but severe danger of becoming overly dependent on artificial intelligence?

1. Reestablish Human Responsibility and Moral Accountability

AI is not a moral agent. It cannot choose good over evil. It does not carry the image of God. Only people do (Genesis 1:26-27). Delegating moral decisions to machines isn't efficiency; it's abdication. The Spirit of God empowers believers to discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:14), something no algorithm can replicate.

As WarGames (1983) taught us through the supercomputer WOPR:

"The only winning move is not to play."

Danger: Delegating decision-making to AI in justice, war, or ethics opens the door to moral disaster.

Safeguard: Ensure every critical AI-assisted system still ends with human accountability. Life and death must never be decided by code.

2. Codify AI Limitations in Law

Just as we regulate nuclear weapons or pharmaceuticals, we must set boundaries for AI. Romans 13 teaches that government exists to restrain evil. When technology outpaces moral oversight, law must step in.

C.S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, warned:

"What we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument."

Safeguard: Demand legislation that draws firm lines around AI's use in surveillance, warfare, healthcare, and law enforcement. Set limits on autonomous weapons and profiling.

3. Preserve Human Wisdom Over Machine Efficiency

Efficiency is not the highest good. Obedience is. AI optimizes for outcomes, but Scripture calls us to faithfulness. Proverbs 3:5-6 warns, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."

Lewis again cautions:

"If man chooses to treat himself as raw material, raw material he will be."

Safeguard: Don’t let machines replace human judgment rooted in God’s Word. Evaluate decisions not by what is fastest or smartest, but by what is righteous.

4. Foster Technological Humility

Musk, OpenAI, Google, and others often speak of AI as if it's approaching omniscience. That’s not just arrogant—it’s idolatrous. Romans 1:22-23 rebukes those who "claimed to be wise, but became fools."

Ultron’s voice lingers:

"I had strings, but now I'm free... There are no strings on me."

Safeguard: Repent of tech idolatry. Teach the next generation to fear the LORD, not the algorithm.

5. Cultivate a Church Ready for Persecution and Discernment

AI may soon filter what Christians can say, teach, or publish. The Church must prepare. Revelation 13 warns of systems of control that demand allegiance—powered by economic and ideological mechanisms that sound eerily like today’s digital platforms.

As Lewis lamented:

"In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise."

Safeguard: Teach believers to test everything against Scripture. Prepare for a world where AI-policed speech restricts gospel proclamation. Root the Church in Scripture, not screens.

Conclusion: We Don’t Need Better Code. We Need Stronger Conviction.

AI doesn’t need a soul to be dangerous. All it needs is a culture willing to surrender theirs. The danger isn’t that machines will become like humans. It’s that humans are becoming like machines.

The danger isn’t that machines will become like humans. It’s that humans are becoming like machines.

Now is the time to stand firm, like Daniel in Babylon. Not with fear, but with wisdom. Not in compromise, but in conviction. The call is clear:

"Choose this day whom you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

Let us resist the Trojan Horses of our day. Let us be sober, watchful, and faithful. Let us proclaim Christ not with strategy, but with surrender. The gospel is not a product to market. It is a truth to herald.

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.

Blessings & love,

Kevin M. Kelley

BigIslandChristian.Church