Advanced AI and chatbots are raising a fuss currently. Posting at Instapundit, Ed Driscoll reminds us of an insight science fiction superstar Arthur C. Clarke had sixty years ago.
In a prescient 1963 article, Clarke mentions a future situation where a scientist creates the ultimate computer. He powers the machine up and asks it a question humans have been asking since the dawn of creation: "Is there a God?" The computer, after checking that its power source is independent of human controls, replies, "There is now."
My own favorite Clarke story involving religion and computers is "The Nine Billion Names of God." Briefly, western techs are hired by Tibetan lamas to install a computer and printer to complete a task the lamas believe is the only reason the universe exists. One on which they've been engaged manually for centuries.
That task is for humans to print out all of the nine digit names of God. The installation is complete and the techs are headed for the airfield. One notes that the printer should be about finished with the task, looks up and sees that "overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."
