As I was meditating on robotics, having read a provocative article from the last issue of Popular Science, it occurred to me why I take such great comfort in a Scripture like Isaiah 26:3 which says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you”.
The article on robotics was suggesting that robots might become our new best friends. The concept of Social Robotics is gaining ground as robots are being used not only to do mechanical work and provide information, but also to be an encouragement to people by empathizing with them and creating the impression that they are more sentient than a mere machine.
So I pushed the button on my iPhone 6 and asked Siri: “Siri, will you be my friend?” Siri answered, “You’ve been my friend since day one, Hal.” Of course Siri does not have a body like a robot, but you don’t really need a physical form, just a personal presence, a voice…someone who seems to care about you and is willing to share your feelings.
I imagine that our smart houses and smart cars in the near future will be programmed to do many of the routine functions in the home like changing the television station, adjusting the thermostat or lights etc. But I can also imagine someone just speaking to that invisible presence and saying: “I’m feeling depressed”, and hearing a reassuring response; like the one that I got from Siri who replied to my statement of feeling depressed by saying: “Life, as I understand it, is sad, beautiful, and everything in between.” So now we have artificial intelligence and artificial empathy. I guess that works if you are content to live in an artificial world.
The great privilege of prayer for the Christian is that we are able to access the personal presence of God through Jesus Christ at any time and know that he hears, understands, bears our burdens, provides us with wisdom and empowers us to be and do all that he has created us to be and do.
There is nothing artificial about Christ or his real presence by his Spirit as we read his promise in his Word and discover that he keeps us in perfect peace when our mind is stayed on him, because we trust him. I’m not against robots, I’m just afraid that some people will try to find in machines and technology the comfort, consolation and counsel that God has already wonderfully provided in Christ.
