In his annual Christmas epistle, Georgian Patriarch, Ilia II focuses on issues such as wars, growing faithlessness and the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI).
The epistle mentions the “controversy” of the world, but stresses that today’s conflicts and wars can destroy the whole of humanity: “Therefore, we are all obliged to care for peace as much as possible. May God bless Ukraine, the Middle East and the whole world”.
The epistle also speaks on the subject of faith. It says: “In recent centuries, true faith has weakened and godlessness has grown stronger,” adding that people think that their individual morals and views determine their faith, whereas it should be the other way around.
The epistle adds that today, more than ever, there is a real danger “that human self-centeredness will threaten the purpose for which we were born, as the world develops technologically, but our spiritual progress lags behind, and we face many psychological and bioethical challenges.” Further, the epistle touches on the issue of artificial intelligence, which “has the potential to make a huge difference in our lives and completely change our daily lives, but without human spiritual development, the expected negative consequences must be considered.”
The epistle raises the question of whether humans will be able to combine the Christian rule of life with the development of AI, and whether man will use AI to glorify God or, on the contrary, move further away from God.
The epistle says that society must be prepared to face the reality of artificial intelligence in the near future, and for this it is important to get to know the views of psychologists and specialists. “One thing is clear: each of us should strive for personal perfection, which first of all means the will to know God and access to the truth”, – the epistle says. It emphasizes that God is above logical categories, which even the collective human mind will never be able to reach.
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