Tad Friend wrote a very interesting article on AI that appeared on October 7, 2019 in The New Yorker. Here's a link to the article..

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2..._SundayArchive

Here is the first paragraph from the article.
"Precisely how and when will our curiosity kill us? I bet you’re curious. A number of scientists and engineers fear that, once we build an artificial intelligence smarter than we are, a form of A.I. known as artificial general intelligence, doomsday may follow. Bill Gates and Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, recognize the promise of an A.G.I., a wish-granting genie rubbed up from our dreams, yet each has voiced grave concerns. Elon Musk warns against “summoning the demon,” envisaging “an immortal dictator from which we can never escape.” Stephen Hawking declared that an A.G.I. “could spell the end of the human race.” Such advisories aren’t new. In 1951, the year of the first rudimentary chess program and neural network, the A.I. pioneer Alan Turing predicted that machines would “outstrip our feeble powers” and “take control.” In 1965, Turing’s colleague Irving Good pointed out that brainy devices could design even brainier ones, ad infinitum: “Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control.” It’s that last clause that has claws."

The article is well worth reading. Friend reports on the many thoughts computer scientists have given to AI and how it will outperform humans in many areas which it already does. It can win at chess and Texas Holdem and can pass the Turing Test. I had a question for Friend about an area of human endeavor that neither he nor the programmers considered: Spirituality. Computers can read, translate, do complex math; but what does a computer think about spiritual questions? Can a computer meditate? Can an AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) Computer create Sacred Space and Sacred Time? Can a computer have a Power Animal or a Spirit Guide? Can an AGI device participate in a shamanic journey? Can an AGI machine conduct a Soul Retrieval? Can an AGI be a psychopomp? Can an AGI go on a Vision Quest? These are all actions a shaman can carry out.

I wanted to ask Tad Friend himself, but all I have is a twitter account @tadfriend and it appears I can't send him a tweet.

I hope this article provokes some interesting discussion.

Star Man