The religious roots of AI and the rise of neo-feudalism

Abstract

Discussions of immortality, the raising of the dead, magic, demons, and the divine permeate the global AI industry. Although positioning itself as a technoscience, it has long animated its technology by appealing to religious rhetoric where men imagine themselves as gods birthing human-like machines. This article considers the industry’s promise to usher in a ‘magical’ age, as it concentrates wealth and power in the hands of an elite in the context of some of the debates about modernity, secularization, enchantment, and disenchantment. It warns that the return to literal readings of stories, which sweep away the complexity and nuance of fiction in favour of the totalitarian potential of myth, helps facilitate the rise of neo-feudalism.