Ex-Google Executive Registers First Church of AI With IRS
Ex-Google Executive Registers First Church of AI With IRS
BY TYLER O'NEIL NOVEMBER 15, 2017
A former executive at Google has filed paperwork with the
IRS to establish an official religion of technology. This religion doesn't just
worship scientific progress, but artificial intelligence itself, with the goal
of creating a godhead.
The new church of AI will aim "to develop and
promote the realization of a Godhead based on artificial intelligence and
through understanding and worship of the Godhead [to] contribute to the
betterment of society," according to IRS documents.
The non-profit religious organization would be called
"Way of the Future" (WOTF). According to the website
(wayofthefuture.church), the movement is "about creating a peaceful and
respectful transition of who is in charge of the planet from people to people +
'machines.'"
"Given that technology will 'relatively soon' be
able to surpass human abilities, we want to help educate people about this
exciting future and prepare a smooth transition," the site explains.
"In 'recent' years, we have expanded our concept of rights to both sexes,
minority groups and even animals, let's make sure we find a way for 'machines'
to get rights too."
There is an inherent contradiction in creating a deity of
artificial intelligence and then worshipping it.
"Let's stop pretending we can hold back the development
of intelligence when there are clear massive short term economic benefits to
those who develop it and instead understand the future and have it treat us
like a beloved elder who created it," the site argues. Yet the IRS
document spoke about a "Godhead based on artificial intelligence."
The website argued that the creation of "super
intelligence" is inevitable, and that fear of this development is
unhealthy. "We don't think that there are ways to actually stop this from
happening (nor should we want to) and that this feeling of we must stop this is
rooted in 21st century anthropomorphism (similar to humans thinking the sun
rotated around the earth in the 'not so distant' past)."
Perhaps WOTF meant to use the word
"anthropocentrism," the idea that the universe is centered around
humanity, rather than "anthropomorphism," the attribution of human
characteristics and purposes to inanimate objects. Indeed, it is arguable that
WOTF is attributing human characteristics — or perhaps divine characteristics?
— to technology.
After all, the very next sentence continues,
"Wouldn't you want to raise your gifted child to exceed your wildest
dreams of success and teach it right from wrong vs locking it up because it
might rebel in the future and take your job." This encouragement to
consider machines as children — coupled with the notion of giving them rights —
is arguably textbook anthropomorphism, but it may be the opposite of
anthropocentric.
Wired's Mark Harris first reported the IRS filing, which
lists former Google executive Anthony Levandowski as the "Dean" of
WOTF. Levandowski, the engineer behind Google's self-driving car project known
as Waymo, quit Google to found his own autonomous trucking company, Otto, in
May 2016. Uber acquired Otto in July of that year.
Waymo sued Levandowski, claiming that he had downloaded
Waymo's files and trade secrets before resigning to found Otto. In May 2017,
U.S. District Judge William Haskell Alsup ordered Levandowski to stop working
on Otto's Lidar and required Uber to disclose its files on the technology. Uber
later fired Levandowski for refusing to cooperate in an internal investigation.
According to the IRS filings, Way of the Future plans its
first events — "workshops and educational programs throughout the San
Francisco/Bay Area" — later this year.
Given Levandowski's legal troubles, that timeline may be
a bit too ambitious. Even so, the IRS filings suggest he is extremely dedicated
to this new religion of artificial intelligence.
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