Technology promises humanity victory over disease, hunger and even death. But what if, in the chase for progress, the industry has become a new religious cult\u2014one in which neural networks take the place of God and Silicon Valley executives stand in for priests?<\/p>\n
That is the question Paul Kingsnorth poses in his essay Death to the Machine<\/a>, published in the American Orthodox zine Death to the World. ForkLog examines the arguments he advances.<\/p>\n Paul Kingsnorth<\/strong> is a British writer, poet and essayist. He first became known as an environmental activist and a co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project, which criticised<\/a> the \u201cmyth of progress\u201d. In 2021 he was baptised<\/a> into the Romanian Orthodox Church. Kingsnorth sees technological expansion and transhumanism as a spiritual threat, setting religious values against them.<\/p>\n Death to the World<\/strong> (\u201cDeath to the world\u201d) is an American zine whose first issue appeared in 1994. It was founded by former punks who embraced Orthodoxy at the St Herman of Alaska Monastery in California. The title alludes to the monastic principle of renouncing worldly passions. The publication blends the radical aesthetic of punk culture with Christian teaching as its authors see it. The magazine\u2019s motto: \u00abThe last true rebellion\u00bb<\/span>.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence and related tools are advancing at unprecedented speed. Neural networks write code, create works of art and hold coherent conversations. Transhumanist ideas\u2014\u201cenhancing\u201d humans with technology\u2014are moving from science fiction into corporate business plans.<\/p>\n Supporters, often called techno-optimists, see a path to a \u201cbrighter future\u201d. Transhumanist philosopher Zoltan Istvan has argued<\/a> for fully \u201cgoing beyond biology\u201d to achieve justice and equality.<\/p>\n There is, however, an opposing view, which Kingsnorth holds. He argues that behind the rhetoric of progress lies the formation of a new quasi-religious system. At its centre is faith in the omnipotence of technology, capable not merely of improving the world but remaking it, overturning past norms, nature and the human being.<\/p>\n In his essay, Kingsnorth dubs Silicon Valley\u2019s ideologues a \u201cnew priesthood\u201d. Their sermons are public talks and books that promote the idea of technological salvation.<\/p>\n Writer Elise Bohan, in Future Superhuman<\/span> (2022), asserts that artificial intelligence and genetic engineering will let us become \u201cmore than human\u201d and that we are in the process of \u201ccreating a god\u201d.<\/p>\n Martine Rothblatt, founder of Sirius XM Radio and a telemedicine pioneer, goes further. She writes<\/a> that \u201cgeoethical nanotechnology will ultimately connect all minds and govern the cosmos\u201d. Rothblatt is convinced that humanity is creating an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent entity\u2014that is, playing creator.<\/p>\n These statements form a \u201cnew theology\u201d in which humans do not accept the world but construct it at will, Kingsnorth notes. Old notions\u2014\u201chome\u201d, \u201cbody\u201d, \u201cnature\u201d\u2014are declared \u201coutdated constructs\u201d to be overcome. <\/p>\n The end goal is total control over matter and the abolition of death. In this paradigm, suffering is a technical problem to be solved.<\/p>\n It is telling how technology is being integrated into institutions that might be expected to resist it. The ideas of \u201cdigital transformation\u201d are seeping into traditional religions worldwide.<\/p>\n In Kyoto\u2019s Kodaiji Buddhist temple a robot priest named Mindar<\/a> has been serving for years. It recites sutras, and developers plan to equip it with advanced AI for spiritual conversations. The android monk Xian\u2019er<\/a> at Beijing\u2019s Longquan temple answers visitors\u2019 questions and spreads wisdom through the media.<\/p>\n The trend is not confined to Buddhism. In India a robotic arm is used<\/a> to perform aarti, one of Hinduism\u2019s important ceremonies, in place of a priest.<\/p>\n Christian churches are experimenting with technology, too:<\/p>\n Theologian and Franciscan nun Ilia Delio promotes<\/a> the idea of gender-neutral robot priests to address abuses linked to patriarchy. She says outright that AI \u201cchallenges Catholicism, pushing it toward a posthuman priesthood\u201d.<\/p>\n In Kingsnorth\u2019s view, these examples show not the modernisation of religion but its capitulation before a more powerful \u201cfaith\u201d\u2014in technology.<\/p>\n The writer draws a direct analogy between today\u2019s technological project and the biblical myth of the Tower of Babel, which people sought to build to rival God. Today, he argues, humanity is repeating the error.<\/p>\n The foundation of this \u201cnew Tower of Babel\u201d is not fired brick but the silicon chip. It does not reach skyward but wraps the planet in fibre-optic cable. The aim is unchanged: absolute knowledge, power and control. It is an attempt to fulfil the serpent\u2019s promise in Eden: \u201cYou shall be as gods\u201d.<\/p>\n According to Kingsnorth, the project springs from a spiritual void in the West after turning away from religious ideals towards materialism. Progress has become synonymous with removing all limits\u2014biological, cultural, environmental.<\/p>\n The symptoms of this tower-building are felt everywhere:<\/p>\n The core tenet of this \u201cnew theology\u201d is self-creation. Humans reject the passive role of creature and assume that of demiurge, seeking to transform everything from the climate to their own bodies.<\/p>\n The urge to \u201cbuild a god\u201d and \u201cabolish the human\u201d is prompting growing concern. In 2023 hundreds of leading scientists, researchers and tech bosses, including OpenAI chief Sam Altman and DeepMind head Demis Hassabis, signed<\/a> an open letter. It said reducing existential risks from AI must be a global priority.<\/p>\nBackground<\/h2>\n
Two perspectives<\/h2>\n
A new priesthood and its dogmas<\/h2>\n
AI enters the temples<\/h2>\n
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A new Tower of Babel<\/h2>\n
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An ethical cul-de-sac <\/h2>\n