How do you feel about technology? Will it be our undoing? Some say artificial intelligence will disrupt or even destroy the world by 2030. What do you think? Most new innovations in technology are morally neutral, in and of themselves. They may be used to do good, or to do bad.
Apparently, there were no Luddites in Babel (reference Wednesday’s devotional). A new form of technology emerged when humans baked bricks and used them to build instead of using stone and tar. These innovators could have seen the new technology as an opportunity to build something for God. Instead, they built a city for themselves with a tower reaching to the heavens. Why? They declared their purpose to make a name for themselves so that they would not be scattered across the face of the earth.
Think of the great technological innovations in history. The wheel was invented around 3500 B.C. Then writing systems, iron, paper, and the printing press followed. Gunpowder was invented along with a mechanical clock, a steam engine, electricity, automobiles, and planes. Don’t forget penicillin, nuclear power, the internet, and smartphones. The list goes on. Are these things inherently good or evil?
All of this creativity confirms that we were created in the image of the Creator. We imagine great things and make them. How will we use the resources of our day? The printing press put the Bible and songbooks in the hands of people. Phones, screens, and the internet are doing that again. We may see the good in what God has given, or we may use it for evil. But I am sure that we will answer, not for what was available to us but for how we used it. Let’s use it for good.
