Our local PBS station aired a special on a computer created by IBM. The creators called it “Watson”. Their goal was to create a computer that could compete and win against the best Jeopardy players on earth. Some of you may watch Jeopardy and know how complicated it can be. Imagine how complicated it would be for machine. Unlike chess, which has a set of defined rules and pieces that move in predetermined directions, the game of Jeopardy uses human language, with humor, double meanings, and knowledge based upon life's experiences. A computer can't have experience. A computer is simply a calculator, using ones and zeros.
As some of you may know, Watson's engineers were victorious. They created a computer that could play Jeopardy and it beat two of the best players on earth, including my favorite, Ken Jennings. He won $2,520,700 over his 74 consecutive wins in 2005. It was unbelievable. I hurried home every day during my senior year of seminary to watch Ken Jennings perform his magic. More importantly, to the IBM engineers Watson was a huge step forward in "machine learning", because Watson had to “learn” on its own and not be programmed with facts and figures. Scientists have been chasing artificial intelligence for several decades but this was a huge leap forward.
What I found interesting and incredibly ironic was that the further humans reach toward artificial intelligence the further away the prize gets. And even more ironically, the more we reach toward removing the human from the equation, the more pronounced the human influence becomes; because you cannot take the image of the Creator out of the created. That which is created will always resemble its creator(s).
Perhaps one day we may create machines that think and reason on their own, but nothing can replicate the human capacity for emotion and the irrationality of human love, which itself is a dim reflection of God's love. Many have watched with skepticism and awe how the personal computer found its way into our homes, onto our desks, onto our laps, and finally into our hands, so that it can be stored in our pocket. But what is most interesting isn't the machinery itself but what it does. Our machines haven't made us any better although they have made us more efficient, sometimes. But our machines more often than not have allowed us new and inventive ways to communicate with one another.
We have created machines that allow us to communicate with more people, more often, and in greater quantity. However, for all of our fits and starts into the world of mass communication and Internet technology the quality of our communication has not improved. The loudest people, and often the most insane seem to stand out in the heap, still. So not much is really changed it's just the methodology.
By the time you read this message the Easter season will have been in full swing for about a week. We are people shaped by a creator who loves us, redeems us, and guides us. We are never left alone as people of the resurrection. I hope during this Easter season you find reason to rejoice and communicate out of that joy. Please watch your language. Please watch how you treat one another. And remember that no matter how impressive our technology human beings are human beings; always have been and always will be. God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that those who believe in him would have eternal life. I hope that you live into that eternal life today by communicating and love.
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