Trusting in a Higher Intelligence

AI is all the rage—affecting many areas of life and work. Yet as we explore in this issue of Beyond Today, artificial intelligence is by no means a passing fad. It’s changing the world around us and how we interact with it. Many are learning to engage with it in ever-expanding ways, and soon it will come up with many new products and services to offer us from its snowballing resources and command of those resources. A great many people, even those financing and developing it, are frightened of what it could become and lead to—a major factor in their involvement, striving to keep up with it and maintain guardrails.

Some imagine a programmable utopia to come, where everything is just easier. Others are terrified of the prospects of electronic minds taking over the world and solving the problems of humanity by, oh, eradicating us! Ever heard of Skynet? It’s a fictional AI system in filmmaker James Cameron’s dystopian Terminator movie franchise—which causes nuclear devastation and then sends robots to try to wipe out survivors mounting a resistance. Perhaps you’ve seen recent videos of robotic “wolves” running with rifles or flamethrowers on their backs as a possible military application. It is certainly very disturbing.

Cameron has stated that he believes AI will help with directing movies, but he recently said in a Rolling Stone interview, “I do think there’s still a danger of a Terminator-style apocalypse where you put AI together with weapons systems, even up to the level of nuclear weapons systems, nuclear defense counterstrike, all that stuff” (Aug. 5, 2025).

Many people are enthusiastic about the positive applications of AI but feel an unease about where things could be headed.

Cameron said about trying to cope with a rapidly changing world of existential threats: “It would take a super-intelligence to be able to process it, and maybe we’ll be smart and keep a human in the loop. But humans are fallible, and there have been a lot of mistakes that have put us right on the brink of international incidents that could have led to nuclear war. So I don’t know.” He went on to ponder: “Maybe the super-intelligence is the answer. I don’t know. I’m not predicting that, but it might be.”

Um, no. The surprising fact is that a super-intelligence is indeed the answer—but not the AI kind. The answer lies in connecting with the Supreme Intelligence who designed the universe and put us here for a reason—who, moreover, loves us and wants the best for us. Shockingly, some have resorted to drawing close to AI systems as some kind of personal companion or even as a god revealing secrets and direction for life. This is truly, as the old country song says, “looking for love in all the wrong places.”

AI is a tool that has helpful uses, but it’s wise to recognize that it’s fraught with potential dangers for society and us personally. How do we navigate? As always, through moral choices, seeking God and His ways to conduct ourselves prudently and responsibly—and above all righteously. And we will see that through Him there truly is hope going forward.

In this issue we’ll also see that Scripture is a reliable source we can turn to. And we’ll consider the change of life it directs us to. We’ll examine our need to always have and express gratitude. And we’ll see that how we approach and honor God must be according to His will.

The world around us is devolving into worsening problems, with so many sinking to hatred and violence. Yet great numbers of others are hungering for change, with many recognizing that rescue lies not in our own hands but in coming to God through His Son Jesus Christ. Yet they need to spend more time in God’s Word to find out what Jesus actually taught—about living life today and what awaits in life to come. May we all be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

The world will yet grow darker, but beyond that a new age of light and joy will come from God through Christ. That is where ultimate hope lies. That is the focus of Beyond Today. Let it be your guiding focus too.