Will A.I. Replace Us?

Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath Services. And a big thank you to the Vocal Ensemble for a beautiful hymn, very meaningful this time of year, very reflective as we've just concluded the Days of Unleavened Bread and the Passover, and as we now look forward to the Feast of Weeks, the Day of Pentecost, which is seven weeks from now. So thank you very much to the Ensemble, and good afternoon, everyone!

I watched an interview with Elon Musk given on December 9 last year by Katie Miller. She's an American political advisor and podcaster. And in the interview, Miss Miller asked Mr. Musk, who do you look up to the most? And Mr. Musk said, the Creator.

Miss Miller then asked, what's your position on God? And Musk said, God is the Creator. And she said, you don't believe in God, though, do you? And Musk said, well, I believe this universe came from something.

Now, Katie Miller could have asked some obvious follow-up questions. Perhaps questions like, what do you mean by God? Or, what makes you believe the universe was created? But unfortunately, her follow-up question was, when's the last time you did something completely ordinary, like go to Target or CVS?

Now, I'd much rather hear from Elon Musk on his thoughts about God than I would about the last time he shopped at Target or Walmart. Notice Psalm 19 verses 1 through 2. Psalm 19 verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. And now look at verse 2. Psalm 19 verse 2. Day unto day out of speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. Verse 2 here is like saying, the day and the night sky are speaking to us, and revealing knowledge about the glory of God.

In today's message, we're going to look at four amazing characteristics of our human bodies that can only be attributed to an intelligent designer, an ingenious creator. Of course, we could talk about dozens of attributes our bodies have that require a designer, but today we'll look at just four. And then we're going to conclude with the discussion of the question, will AI replace us? So I've titled today's message, Will AI Replace Us? And I believe it's a topic today for all ages, from young to old. All should find something of interest that I pray will be helpful, educational, and also inspiring. So let's look at the first amazing characteristic of a human body that can only be attributed to our creator. Number one, our three directional nasal cycle. Okay. Now listen to this. A December article last year in Populous Science was titled Why We Have Two Nostrils Instead of One Big Hole.

It's almost like one of those alien shows with just one big hole you know they have in the middle. It turns out that each nostril behaves differently than the other nostril throughout the day. Besides the nose helping the mouth to bring in air, it also screens out dust and pollutants while warming and adding water to prepare it for the lungs to improve gas exchange. But as the article states, every few hours one side of the nose is more open and handles most of the airflow while the other side processes less air, enabling it to recover moisture. And it's all regulated by the nervous system.

So the popular science article says, quote, having two nostrils helps the nose cope with this demanding task of preparing air for the lungs. The nostrils alternate airflow from one side to the other. Studies have shown that at no point do both nostrils draw in the same amount of air. Every few hours one side of the nose is more open and handles most of the airflow while the other processes less air, enabling it to recover moisture, end quote. And I've actually noticed that since I was a kid. See, that one side is always a bit more stuffed up than the other side. What's on purpose?

Psalm 139 verse 14, if you want to make a note of it, I'll read it to you. Psalm 139 verse 14. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Not fearfully and wonderfully evolved. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works. And that, my soul knows very well. In other words, it's just common sense. It's obvious. But what other important functions does the nose perform? Because air flows into the nostrils at different speeds, each nostril handles odors differently.

One nostril, be more closed than the other, has a slower rate of airflow, and that slower airflow rate means there's more time for slowly absorbing chemicals in the air to dissolve into the mucous lining. However, the nostril's other, more open airflow is better at detecting quickly dissolving chemicals and sends those signals to the brain. So each nostril even smells differently throughout the day. And as the article points out, quote, we have stereo smelling for helping locate directions of scent.

Our brain uses stereo information from the two nostrils to figure out even where a smell is coming from. To perform these important functions, which would be best? One, big hole. You're all getting a visual, eh? Just know it. Or two, what evolutionists think are restrictive nostrils, which would do a better job for survival even. Our nose gives us 3D direction of smell, and they work together to enhance the way we breathe. And there's even more, as you know, like repelling viruses that won't cover right now. But next time you take a deep breath, or smell an apple pie, and know that it's coming from the kitchen, don't take your two nostrils for granted. It's actually remarkable to consider how the humble nose, and some have bigger ones than others, are so well designed and engineered, designed and engineered for respiratory function, and for tracking the direction of smell through what's called 3D olfaction. Yes, as Psalm 139 points out, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. 2. The Incredible Floating Human Knee Joint The Incredible Floating Human Knee Joint Many scientists insist the human knee is a bad design and flawed. Now, I have a quote here from Nathan Lentz. He's an American scientist, author, evolutionist, and university professor. He says, he insists, quote, the problem is due to incomplete adaptation. Nowhere is this clearer than in the human knee. The anatomical adaption to upright walking never quite finished in humans. We have several defects that are the result of the failure to complete the process. The ACL is vulnerable to tearing in humans because their upright, bipedal posture forces it to endure much more strain than it is designed to. I don't know why he said designed there, by the way. So, Lentz makes these comments not because of any clear and compelling scientific evidence, but because evolutionary theory predicts poor design, or does not believe in design at all. The problem for Lentz is that scientific research actually points to the knee joint being a brilliant design, and far beyond anything engineers have ever been able to produce.

It reminds of Romans chapter 1. If you want to make a note of Romans chapter 1, just two verses. There's lots here in Romans 1, but verses 20 through 22. Romans 1 verses 20 through 22. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, they were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened, professing to be wise. Verse 22, they became fools.

So, like the foot, and we're going to talk about the foot next, okay, so get ready. The knee joint is an incredible multifunctioning apparatus. It has two main joint functions, large flexing and extension movement, plus actual rotation between the femur and the tibia. The large range of motion in flexing and extension is necessary for activities like running and jumping. And a small amount of knee actual rotation is important for activities like skiing and changing direction when you're walking and running. A fixed knee joint would not allow that.

So, our knee joints float. They're not fixed in place. So, there are two important structural functions here as well. High strength, and at the same time, the ability to lock in the standing position. The knees must be strong because when a person is running and jumping, each knee can experience forces over six times the weight of the body. And so, it also needs to absorb shock loads and lock in the standing position. The knee is a floating joint because unlike most other joints, like the hip joint, the hip joint's not a floating joint. The knee has no fixed center of rotation. The center of rotation moves in your knee. It's not fixed. It's free to rotate and roll. It's free to rotate and roll. And the floating nature of the joint, by the way, rarely seen in any man-made technology, is literally an ingenious design, giving the knee joint an exceptional range of movement in flexing and extension. And the reason the floating joint is so clever is that it allows the joint to excel in two ways that are not normally possible simultaneously. These two things don't normally happen together at the same time, which is, one, a large load capacity and, two, a large range of motion. The floating joint design brilliantly overcomes this problem, allowing the femur to roll over the tibia with a moving center of rotation, which gives a great range of motion.

Now, scientists realize that this kind of clever solution requires some clever engineering. It requires, first of all, a complex fine-tuned geometry in the bones. Secondly, a sophisticated four-bar linkage system. And thirdly, a special meniscus structure between the femur and the tibia. And the action of the four-bar mechanism also increases the mechanical advantage of squatting. This means that the lower you squat, the more force you get from the quad muscles, which is exactly what you need when squatting low. And so when engineers first studied the knee joint, they were astonished to find such a creative solution to a complex problem. You always hear about creative solutions to things, don't you? Well, it's in the word. No engineer had ever thought of such a system like the floating human knee joint. We're in Romans chapter 1. Look at Romans chapter 14. Romans 14 verse 11.

Romans 14, 11 we read, for it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God, and all will give account of himself to God. So no matter how much you would like to deny the creation and the creation even of the human body, at some point you'll even have to bow the knee that was designed perfectly just for that. Our knees are wonderfully designed and created for a multi-purpose role. They're not a bad design or flawed. So number three, the incredible complexity of the human foot. I've actually titled it irreducible complexity of the human foot, irreducible complexity of the human foot. Now the Roman Empire, as we know, famously invented and perfected the block style arch. It's known as the Roman Arch, but they weren't the first.

The designer of the human foot got there long before the Romans did.

And the arch of the human foot is far more sophisticated than a typical human-made arch, because the human foot has three integrated arches and three keystones. The human foot is a dynamic structure that even deforms to absorb shock and store energy. The triple arched structure of the human foot is an engineering marvel. It's unique among mammals, actually, and it's a serious challenge to evolutionary theory. In the fossil record, there are no transitional forms between the arched feet of humans and the flat feet of apes. Zero. Which, of course, should not be surprising, because the arches of the foot are irreducibly complex structures that could not evolve step by step. No pun intended, of course.

So what is irreducible complexity? Irreducible complexity describes biological systems that are too complex to have evolved through gradual changes because they require all the parts to be in place at the same time to function. If any part is removed, the system ceases to work. It's irreducibly complex. You can't take any part out or it fails. Such systems must have been designed by an intelligent agent rather than develop through natural selection. A Roman arch is irreducibly complex because the arch only functions when the assembly is complete. A wooden jig has to be used to hold up the arch during construction until the final capstone is put in place. And then you can take away the wood structure and it stays up. The jig must be in place during the entire process because the arch cannot support itself until it is complete. And in the same way, all the bones of the feet must be in place to function as archers. You cannot have a quarter of an arched foot or half an arched foot. The arches of the feet could never evolve in a gradual step-by-step process. Experts in biomechanics do view the human ankle and foot complex as a masterpiece of engineering. And yet, there are evolutionists who insist it is a bad design. Once again, listen to Nathan Lentz, the American scientist, author, and university professor. He asserts, quote, because many of the bones of the ankle do not move relative to one another, they would function better as a single fused structure, their ligaments replaced with solid bone. It's actually hard to put in words the magnitude and stupidity of the error of that statement.

Our foot should be solid like a Roman arch. Psalm 53 verse 1, The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.

Rather, it is very well known in the fields of medicine and biomechanics that ankle fusions lead to a significant degradation of ankle pain. A significant degradation of ankle performance, not an improvement. Lentz's error regarding the design of the ankle shows the danger of following an evolutionary paradigm all the time. That predicts poor design rather than well-established scientific knowledge. If you just look at the science instead of your preconceived notions. Also in Psalm 53 verses 2 and 3, Psalm 53 verse 2, God looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, if there are any who seek God.

And the Psalmist says, they've all turned aside, every one of them. They've together become corrupt. There's none good, no, not one. So that's number three, the irreducible complexity of the human foot. It all has to be there at the same time to work. It can't evolve. Number four, precision design at childbirth.

Precision design at childbirth. It's actually only in the last 10 to 20 years that medical science has been able to unravel what is going on at the molecular level within the uterus during labor and delivery. So it was on January 13 this year Science Daily published an article titled Scientists Discover How the Uterus Knows When to Push During Childbirth. And of course you like that, don't you? How the uterus knows when to push. So childbirth depends not just on hormones, but on the uterus's ability to sense force, physical force. And scientists found that pressure and stretch sensors in the uterine muscle and surrounding nerves work together to trigger coordinated contractions.

And it's the steady, well-organized contractions that move the baby safely through to delivery. We all know a common cause of sudden death is ventricular fibrillation in the human heart. It's when contractions of the ventricular muscle are totally disorganized, resulting in chaotic, rapid and uncoordinated quivering. And in that scenario, the heart is unable to punch blood successfully throughout the body, and death can take place very quickly. Ventricular fibrillation. So too, totally disorganized uterine muscle contraction would kill the baby, would prevent proper labor and delivery. So how does the body make sure that this does not happen when it's time for the baby to be born?

Hormones such as progesterone and oxytocin play a major role in controlling the process. But as full-term approaches, a progressive decrease of progesterone and juice relaxation with a simultaneous increase in oxytocin-induced stimulation results in the uterine muscle flipping from the quiet phase it enjoyed for nine months to the contractile phase, which they of course call labor. How does the uterus know when it needs to power up and synchronize thousands of individual muscle cells to act as a single unit and push during delivery?

With doctors, they call it a biological mystery. How cells convert physical pressure into electrical signals. Remember what God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I sanctified you. This whole labor and delivery process is created by God. Childbirth requires all the right parts to be in the right places and optimally fine-tuned by God so that the uterine muscle remains relaxed throughout pregnancy until it realizes that it's time to deliver the child.

Until it knows it's time to deliver the child. And so we have to ask, do we think successful childbirth came into being by an undirected blind and clunky process like evolution? Does it make sense to use our minds and our scientists to reverse engineer this and figure out what's going on? Such a fine-tuned precision operation that's vital for life and then assume that another mind actually was behind it all. It's actually impossible. Darwinian scientists will tell you that progesterone and oxytocin, along with their specific receptors, all emerge through selective pressure. But this does not address how each of these parts fit into a coherent system that demonstrates finely tuned precision, resulting in a process vital for survival and the birth of a child.

Psalm 139 verse 13 tells us, For you formed my inward parts, you covered me in my mother's womb. So even in the womb, God is watching over us and is involved in our design and created birth process. That's from Psalm 139 verse 13. There's a new book out by Stuart Burgess titled Ultimate Engineering.

And the subtitle is, An Engineer Investigates the Biomechanics of the Human Body. His book actually covers these four amazing designs in the human body that we just talked about and many more. It's actually well worth reading. Stuart Burgess is an award-winning professor of engineering design at the University of Bristol. So his book's called Ultimate Engineering. So now let's switch gears and ask, will AI then replace us?

If artificial intelligence systems eventually become more intelligent and more capable than humans, will AI replace us? Let's look at five reasons why the answer is no. Now, a bit more technical maybe, but as we go along, I think you'll appreciate it.

Will AI replace us? Number one, no. Human ability cannot determine human value. Ability cannot determine value.

The world is full of mechanical tools that already outperform us. A calculator performs complex arithmetic far faster and more accurately than any one of us can. Ploughs dig furrows faster and deeper and more efficiently than our own human hands. Industrial machines outperform us in strength, endurance and precision. Yet, none of these technologies make us less valuable. Instead, they expand our capabilities. And here's the key. Human value is not determined by what we can do. It's rooted in who we are. It's not what we can do, it's who we are. Man has value even when other intelligences or powers like angels surpass our own. Capability has never been the defining measure of worth. AI is more sophisticated than a plough or a calculator, but its strengths don't diminish our worth. Rather, it expands our capabilities. As its creators, AI's greatness can only highlight our own greatness. A great statue reflects the glory of its sculptor. It doesn't diminish it, even when the statue might be larger than the artist who made it. We marvel at the sculptor who made it. It's a very important passage in Acts 17 that I want to turn to for a moment. If you make a note of this, in Acts 17, verses 24 and 25, Acts 17, verse 24, God, who made the world and everything in it, Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things.

We read here that all we are, our life, our breath, everything, is because of God, the great sculptor. We cannot base human value on functionality, what someone can do. No, it's who we are, in God's sight. Consider a baby. Compared to an adult, the infant has far fewer functional capabilities. It cannot speak. It cannot walk. It cannot prove Matthew's own. It cannot be mathematical theorems, or play an instrument.

If capability alone determined value, infants will be far less valuable as humans. Yet, any parent will tell you the opposite. They would lay down their life to save their child. So, we rightly reject the idea that capability determines worth. As a further example, consider individuals with disabilities. If human worth were determined by cognitive or physical ability, then those with disabilities would possess diminished value. But we rightly reject this idea in determining human worth. Human worth cannot ultimately derive from functionality. Will AI replace us? No. Human ability cannot determine human worth.

Number two. No. AI is created in man's image, not God's. AI is created in man's image, not God's. As we read in Genesis chapter 1, we resemble God and represent Him. We are made in God's image. We resemble aspects of our Creator like rationality, creativity, moral awareness. And we represent God as His appointed representatives, especially in His Church. AI systems increasingly resemble human intelligence. They generate language, recognize patterns, solve complex problems, and generate images and videos. And in some areas, it seems they even surpass human abilities. But AI systems are artifacts, designed and built by humans to mimic humans. AI is made in man's image, reflecting aspects of our intelligence and creativity, serving as our representatives. Humans are God's image bearers, where representative reflections of the divine. AI is but a copy of a copy, and actually a very shallow one at that. Acts 17, if you want to go forward to Acts 17 for a moment, notice verses 26 through 28. Acts 17 verse 26.

And God is made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, is determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. Verse 27, so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grow for Him and find Him, though He's not far from each one of us. Verse 28, for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring. We're made in the image of God and we are His offspring. We are unique in creation. We are God's offspring. We can find Him. He's not far from each one of us. Our worth derives from who we are, made in God's image, as His offspring. No amount of computational power can erase our worth. No simulated capability will ever diminish who we are spiritually. Human value is not based on performance. Rather, our worth is given by God. And what He's given, none can snatch away. We're created in His image. No machine, however intelligent, can ever replace us spiritually. Relative performance does not determine our ultimate importance. Will AI replace us? No. AI is created in man's image, not God's. Here's number three, and it's actually a very important one. No. AI only gives the illusion of reasoning. AI only gives the illusion of reasoning. We all know that generative AI systems have made leaps of progress in recent years. They can pen poetry, create complex computer code, produce photo-realistic images. It's hard to tell if it's a real photo or not. And even generate full motion video just from text prompts. And the results are astonishing. But will these systems ever fully replicate and replace human beings? No. No. AI is powerful, but fundamentally limited. It cannot reason or understand. It cannot reason or understand. Understanding is a spiritual concept. Proverbs 2 verse 6 tells us, Proverbs 2 verse 6 tells us, The Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Knowledge, understanding, reason, they're spiritual concepts. Whether it's a spirit in man or whether it's a spirit of God. Modern AI systems can create apps, organize your vacation for you, generate lesson plans for school, prove number theorems, and do what appears to be rational inference. Produce images and videos. Make music. Have conversations with you. But here's the crucial point. They know what is statistically similar to what. But they don't know what anything actually is.

Zeros and ones. Bits and bytes of computer code. That compares what's similar to what. But AI does not actually know what anything is. There is no understanding, no reasoning. They're trapped behind a wall of syntax and numbers. No actual reasoning or understanding. Those are spiritual concepts. Like I said, whether they're of the human spirit or God's spirit. Colossians 1 verses 9 and 10 speak about this. Colossians 1 verses 9 and 10.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. You see, true knowledge, true understanding, true wisdom is a spiritual concept.

In 2022, a paper from the University of California, LA's STAR AI Lab showed that models performing near perfectly on reasoning tasks, what appeared to be reasoning tasks, collapse when the problems were chosen in slightly different ways. And as recently as 2024, it was further demonstrated that adding irrelevant information to math problems could reduce the performance of state-of-the-art models by up to 65%. So here's one of the examples from their paper. Oliver picks 44 Kiwis on Friday, 58 on Saturday, and double Friday's number on Sunday. Five were smaller on average. How many did he pick? Now, the irrelevant detail fed into the AI model, about five of the Kiwis being smaller, led the model to subtract five, producing 185 instead of the correct answer for 190. Why would an irrelevant detail derail the mathematical reasoning system? The answer is, these systems cannot reason. They perform statistical pattern matching. The systems lack understanding, so they're misled by patterns and erroneous data. I like Isaiah chapter 40 verse 28. Listen to this one. Isaiah 40 verse 28. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth? Neither faint nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. And that's where true understanding comes from. Will AI replace us? No. AI only gives the illusion of reasoning. Number four. No. AI models collapse when trained on its own outputs. AI models collapse when trained on its own outputs. In 2023, it was shown that models trained on their own outputs begin to degenerate. Repeating this process leads to the phenomenon of what's called model collapse. And by the eighth or ninth generation, the systems produce incoherent nonsense. There's a fundamental difference between the information humans produce and the information generated by AI. If I write text and feed it into a model, the model will get better. But if the model trains on its own output, it gets worse. Why does the model collapse? Because finite data cannot fully represent the richness of a system.

A principle from information theory called data processing inequality, DPI, DPI, helps explain this. It can be summarized as, quote, clever processing cannot increase the information content of a signal beyond what is already contained in the signal. So, for example, here's a real world example. No matter how much you zoom in on a blurry license plate photo—you've all seen it in the CSI shows, right?—no matter how much you zoom in on a blurry license plate photo, if the information is not there, clever processing cannot increase the information content beyond what is already in the photo. No matter how much training data we collect, the data will forever be a limited snapshot of what it means to be human. So imagine collecting every single document and artifact from the year 1726. From the whole world, from every person, every nation, from 1726, put all that into a computer for a whole year for everybody on the planet. It would provide a snapshot of humanity, but an incomplete one, only for 1726. So let's do it for every year. Doing the same in 2026, would still yield an incomplete picture. No matter how many books, blog posts, or images we gather and put into an AI model, we can never fully capture in a finite data set what it totally means to be human. It'll always be lacking. We have to keep adding to it. And since AI systems are trained only on finite snapshots, they will forever produce incomplete replicas. And of course, if you feed garbage in, you get garbage out as well, don't you? Depends on the quality of the data as well.

Galatians 6 verses 7 and 8. Galatians 6 verse 7, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. He who sows to the flesh, of the flesh reap corruption. He who sows to the spirit, will of the spirit reap everlasting life. So it's all about what you input, isn't it? It's all about what you sow, whether you benefit from it or not. It's all about what you sow to figure out what you reap. Will AI replace us? No. AI models collapse when trained on its own sowing, on its own outputs. And number five, the last one I have here, no, processing is not meaning. Processing is not meaning. The divide between symbolic, surface-level computer processing and the bedrock of grounded truth and meaning is absolute and unshakable.

For example, in 1929, René Margret, a French painter, painted what was called the French painter, painted what was called the treachery of images.

It was a painting of a smoker's pipe labeled, this is not a pipe.

Well, it wasn't, was it? It was a painting. It wasn't a pipe. The representation is not the thing itself. It was a painting of a pipe, not an actual pipe. The world of truth is bigger than the world of symbols and computer processing. Pure process cannot fully encompass truth and meaning. Truth and meaning, once again, are spiritual concepts. AI systems, rather, are formal symbol processes, ultimately made up of zeros and ones. Great scientists have argued that symbol manipulation alone does not produce understanding, and that's correct. It can't. There is no spirit of understanding in artificial intelligence. AI is only a model and can never be a mind. Generative AI can simulate an oppressive array of human capabilities, yes. It can approximate language. It can fake reasoning and imitate creativity, but it does not and cannot fully replicate humans. Think of it this way. The map is not the territory. The territory is out there. You've got the map here. The map is not the territory. The symbol is not the thing. A picture of a pipe is not a pipe, and the model is not the mind, and the ultimate mind comes from God. Which leads us to one final passage. Ephesians 1 verses 18 and 19. Ephesians 1 verse 18.

Ephesians 1 verse 18, let the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of God's calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power. AI will never understand the greatness of a human being called to God. Like I'm reading about here in Ephesians chapter 1. AI will never comprehend the mind of God or even the mind of a human. AI cannot appreciate the exceeding greatness of the Almighty God. Will AI replace us? No. AI is not meaning. It's just a symbol of the thing. To conclude, I want to give a fifth example in our human bodies that can only be attributed to a very intelligent creator, an ingenious creator, and that is the human spine. Of all the miracles of embryological development, formation of the vertebral column and spinal cord actually may be the most impressive. When a human embryo is three weeks old and just a quarter of an inch long, a tiny spine begins forming. And at this stage, tiny little ribs can be seen emerging. The early central nervous system begins as a simple neural plate that folds to form a groove. This then turns into a tube that is initially open at each end. The hundreds of intricate mechanical parts of the vertebral column then gradually, scientists say, self-assemble. As the embryo grows a perfect spinal column, the millions of nerve pathways also self-assemble into a spinal cord.

And when we consider that the spinal cord must develop in perfect synchronization with the vertebrae, it becomes evident that we are witnessing a masterclass in engineering.

One reason engineers are in awe of the vertebral column is that the system is integrated without any fasteners, they say. The human nervous system is seamlessly integrated. The vertebral column is another striking example of irreducible complexity. One part can't survive without the others. The integration of the spinal cord and nerve roots with the vertebral discs represents a major irreducible complexity challenge for evolutionary theory. Example, they say, what evolved first? The holes for the nerve roots or the nerve roots. Neither is useful without the other. And if the column evolved one disc at a time, how did the nerve roots get integrated? Will our amazingly created human bodies ever be replaced by AI? No. And the spiritual elements of truth, understanding, meaning, and reason certainly never can be.