Warning from Jack Hibbs: Artificial Intelligence poses risks

Pastor Jack Hibbs recently warned against demonic deception, saying humans “run the risk of being overtaken” by artificial intelligence, and urged them to use discernment when hearing false teachers and doctrines “made up by man and demon.”

In part two of an earlier sermon series titled, “What Spirit Lives in You?,” Hibbs, who serves as pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, said in the May 21 sermon, a clip of which was shared on YouTube last Saturday, that artificial intelligence “is advancing so quickly.” 

Stressing the importance of discernment, Hibbs read 2 Peter 2:1-3, which states:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

Reflecting on the reports of technological advances in AI, he added that there has been “exponential growth in AI information and development that is of great concern.”  

“[Musk] was telling us where [AI] is heading. I got to tell you, I was listening to him talk to Jordan Peterson and I had a hard time believing what he was saying,” Hibbs said. 

“You have to be kidding me. That now AI devices have conspired with one another, and they have created things without human involvement.” 

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, announced the news of the company after months of discussion surrounding plans to build a rival to ChatGPT — an AI-powered language model developed by OpenAI, capable of generating human-like text based on context and past conversations. 

Musk announced xAI has a goal to “understand the true nature of the universe,” with Hibbs saying that he thought “it’s kind of freaky.” 

Hibbs said that when Elon Musk was asked, “Can’t you just unplug the thing [AI] and it would die?” Musk replied that this was “maybe” possible.

“I don’t like that ‘maybe’ part,” Hibbs said. “What are we doing? It’s so bizarre. Our world will reject the existence of God, but it will create a device that now, we run the risk of being overtaken by the device.“

Hibbs said engineers worldwide are worried about AI’s capabilities, with the pastor noting that “it knows more than you do.”

“You’re not connected to the web. It does math. It does music. It writes books. It can do a song. It can conduct, author … ” Hibbs said. “It can do it all.”

“Now, the great engineers of our world are concerned. They’re talking about what happens when the first rogue military gets a hold of an AI unit that is able to control satellites and trajectories. And wow, think of that.” 

In three years, Hibbs said, there might be no such thing as elections if AI is introduced into the process because the technology “will create the leaders that it wants.” 

“Man has created something that he’s fearful of,” Hibbs said, emphasizing that God created man and He is not fearful of man. “God created man with the ability of choice. Man chose the wrong thing. We are not artificial intelligence.”

“We are the extension of The Intelligence. But He gave us a free will. And what’s amazing about that is our free will has to do with will we bow our heart and our lives to God or not? Will we love Him or not?” 

Hibbs referenced 1 Corinthians 10:18-20, which highlights God’s instruction not to be partakers in idol worship and warns Christians “not to be participants with demons.”  

In modern society, he added, Christians often believe that humanity is too smart to become caught up in the idolatry of statues. 

“What if an AI thing got possessed by a demonic spirit? If statues can be demonic, if a little carved image can be demonically possessed, what if an AI thing got possessed?” Hibbs asked. “What if an AI thing started saying and doing things? You say, ‘That will never happen.’ Ah, you have to talk to Elon Musk. Pretty weird, isn’t it? God says, ‘Watch out: Idols.'”

Hibbs said it’s important for Christians to discern between the spirit of truth and the demonic spirit of error, particularly as AI becomes more advanced.

“You’ve got to admit these are very, very dangerous, destructive, challenging times. And so, spiritually speaking, we’re at a time now when Jesus said in the last days before He comes back, there’s going to be deception so great that … if it were possible, it would deceive even His very elect,” Hibbs added. 

“I don’t say this to scare you; I say this to prepare you. There is a level of deception coming both in and out of the Church that is going to rock the world. It has to. God promised it would come. It would be an indicator of the last days.”

Hibbs warned when it comes to AI, “we are now starting to see things come to pass where you don’t know if what you’re looking at is true or not.” 

“You can’t even tell anymore if that person’s voice is assigned to the actual individual. Is that really Billy Graham’s voice or is that really this actor’s voice or that singer’s voice? Or is it artificial intelligence? How are you going to know truth from error?” Hibbs asked. 

Stressing the need for discernment among believers, Hibbs implored his congregation to, “more than ever, read the Bible.”

“Pray to God. Stop listening to what people are saying. Judge everything you hear against the Bible.”

“That’s why we are here. That’s why we want you to study the Word of God,” Hibbs said. “There’s only one way. Truly, one way. The Spirit of God will tell you based upon the Word of God. And there is a collective attack to try to get you off course. Don’t buy it. Don’t dial your compass into something else that’s going to lead you astray.”

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